The Girl Whose Life Was Interupted by Magic
by Veronica Mitchell
Summary: A muggle born witch from America goes to Hogwarts because of her mom's friends. A rare kind of dragon chooses her causing her life to be even more hectic.  Marriage Law instates. She's chosen earlier for none other than a dragon trainer turned DADA prof.
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter fanfic Chapter One

"Come with me." This guy with pale skin, black hair, and black eyes said to me irritable. My mom had introduced him to me a couple weeks ago. Apparently his name is Severus Snape. He was a professor at a school in England.

Currently we were in Heathrow Air Port in London. I'd just flow by myself for the first time ever. My mom had dropped me off at the airport at home after helping me carry my luggage and stuff inside. She'd said Snape would be picking me up on the other side. He'd been late but at least he'd remembered to come, considering I had no cell phone that worked anywhere but the US and even if I had been able to find a pay phone I had no number to call him on.

You're probably wondering why in the world I'm going to school in the UK if I live across the ocean in the US. Turns out I'm a witch. My brothers would be so disappointed they aren't wizards if my mom had told them yet. My mom's known about the wizarding world for a while now apparently. That's how she knows Snape. The radars and stuff she works with for the US government picked up on some weird stuff so British wizards picked her to explain everything to have her cover for it. According to her there was this big war about a year ago. Some bad wizard and his minions killing and torturing people trying to take over the British wizarding population, they also attacked regular people, muggles as wizards call them. They all ended up dying or going to magical jail.

There was a big final battle in the school where I'm going to be attending. Quite a few people died, including the former Headmaster.

I, Allyssa Sara Ashburn, was going to be attending an ancient, important, magical school in England because someone in their Ministry of Magic decided my mom was a great person to make sure we didn't go and interfere with a magical war. Was I scared? Shitless. Did I have any idea what to expect? Hell no. Was I ready? There aren't enough words in the English language to describe how much of a negative that is but I'll just say; BLOODY HELL NO! Did anybody really care if I wasn't ready? My parents might but Snape sure as hell didn't.

I followed quickly behind Snape. I was pretty tall for a twelve-year-old but Snape's legs were still longer. We made it outside the door and Snape suddenly stopped. He put down the bags of mine he'd been carrying and pulled out a dark colored, thin piece of wood from his sleeve. I assumed it was his wand. I stood beside him and didn't ask any questions or say a word.

He waved it a little and my bags disappeared. I still had my purse and carry-on but they were both light so I didn't mind carrying them around.

Snape turned toward me. "Grab my arm and hold on. You'll feel a pulling and you should probably close your eyes."

What the hell was he going to do but I really didn't want to argue with him because he was one scary dude so I did as he said and seconds after I closed my eyes I felt a tugging somewhere in my stomach and then I felt like I was spinning. It lasted for a few seconds before I felt ground under my feet. I opened my eyes and closed them immediately waiting for the dizziness to fade. I let of Snape's arm because I really wasn't a tactile person and I got the feeling Snape wasn't either.

Hesitantly I opened one eye to see if the room had stopped spinning. It had so I opened both eyes. I found Snape looking at me so I met his gaze and raised an eye-brow. "You aren't going to throw up, are you?" He asked. When I shook my head he said, "Good. I hate it when people throw up. That is called Apparating. Side-Along Apparating because I was apparating and took you along."

I nodded in understanding and looked around. We were in front of a plain brick wall with an old wooden door behind us. There was quite a bit of noise coming through the door from the other side.

Snape took his wand out again and tapped the bricks in front of us in what I assumed was a pattern even though I didn't see one. When he was finished the bricks began to shift apart. When they stopped moving it formed an arched doorway. Snape stepped through and said, "This is Diagon Alley. We're here to buy your school supplies. Your mother gave me funds to pay for everything. I have your supply list.

We shopped for quills and parchment first. Then for the books I would need. Next came school robes and uniforms. Great, I had to wear a skirt every day I had classes. It wasn't required on the weekends at least.

"Next should be animals if you would like a pet." Snape always talked emotionlessly I'd noticed and honestly I would rather he do that than treat me like a child and try to strike up a conversation. I was a bit over whelmed and it was better for me to process everything in silence in my own time.

"How about I look while you go and look for something you need. Meet me outside the pet store and if I'm not there I'm inside, okay?" He'd been looking extremely bored and I assumed there was something he needed. I didn't mind shopping with him but I didn't want him to be looking over my shoulder while I looked at animals.

"That sounds fine." Snape turned on his heal and got lost in the crowd seconds later. I walked into the pet store and saw all kinds of owls, bats and other animals.

There were cats. I read the sign hanging from their cage saying they were actually half cat and half kneazle. Well, I had no idea what a kneazle was and I wasn't much of a cat person. So, after gently petting one on the head I moved on. Next was a cage of Shiba Inu mixed husky puppies. I loved dogs. There was a puppy that had the most adorable face and was calm despite how energized the other puppies were. Not wanting to startle it by picking it right up, I scratched behind its ear first. It was adorable.

"Can I help you find anything?" I turned around to see a boy in his late teens or early twenties wearing an apron with the store's logo on the front.

"Umm. I don't have my supply list with me, and I was wondering what kind of pets you're allowed to have at Hogwarts?" I wasn't really sure he would know off the top of his head but it was worth a try.

He chuckled. "Anything in the store except the thing all the kids want, the dragon."

"Why would you have a dragon in the store? Aren't they dangerous?" I asked as I absently petted the puppy in my arms.

"It's only a small dragon; even though that doesn't really matter it's still pretty deadly. Some bloke sold the egg to the store, said it was a bird. When it hatched one of the employees got third degree burns. Haven't been able to calm the damn thing down since, almost had to call a dragon trainer to put the thing in the cage. I swear, I think the owner of the store would give it away to the person who could calm it down." The young man was smiling and shaking his head in bemusement.

"Why not call the dragon trainer?" I asked.

"We did. One came, took one look at it and said the safest thing to do would be to kill it. Apparently this type of dragon can only be calmed by its one person. It chooses, just like wands choose. The tamer also said that it only hatches when their one person comes into their magic." The young man explained, all this seemed so fascination when he told it because he was so into it. He must've really loved animals.

"When did it hatch?" I was curious. Obviously I'd never seen a dragon before and only heard about them in stories and fairytales.

"June 15," he said. It really wasn't much of a surprise that he knew it off the top of his head because parents probably came in constantly asking when it hatched so they could claim that the dragon belonged to their child.

I felt my eyes widen. My grip tightened on the puppy still in my arms until it started to squirm, I immediately loosened it again. Shit, I thought. There had to be an explanation other than the obvious. It was absolutely impossible that the day I'd magically shut my brother up a dragon was hatching across the ocean. Shit, I didn't want this, I didn't want this at all; all I wanted was to fit in with everyone else in this world it was going to be hard as it was, with me not knowing the culture or anything else about what was going on in my life right now.

"Are you okay?" The young man asked seeing my expression.

"Umm. How about you show me this dragon of yours?" I said evasively. It had to be a coincidence.

"Sure, if we can get through the crowd." He still seemed confused but he smiled just the same. "I'm Hudson, by the way."

"Like the bay. I'm Allyssa." I think it's a bay but it might be a river, I never was good at geography.

"Nice to meet you. What bay?"

"Never mind. It's an American geographical feature."

"What?" he asked sounding even more confused.

"Just forget it," I finally said considering it was very possible I was giving him false information.

"So you're from America?" He asked as we tried to walk through the crowd surrounding what I assumed was the dragon's cage. I still had the puppy in my arms. She was licking my hands and occasionally my face as I continued petting her absently.

"Yeah."

"Why come over here to go to Hogwarts when I'm pretty sure there's plenty of good magical schools over there?" Hudson asked.

"My mom knows a professor who teaches at Hogwarts." It wasn't a lie.

"So your mum went to school with a professor, that's cool. Who is it?" We were getting close to the cage now because I caught a couple glimpses of it.

"No. My mom's a muggle, so is my dad. It's a really long story." We were pushing through the last of the people now. When we were finally standing right behind the people in the first row the little ice blue dragon froze, sniffing the air. Everyone that could see suddenly fell silent.

The dragon looked around it still smelling the air. Suddenly, it turned and looked right at me. Hudson stared at me for a moment before saying something I didn't hear and walking quickly away. I was staring straight into the violet eyes of the ice blue dragon.

It was probably a couple minutes later when Hudson came back with a tall, slim, curly brown haired woman. "This is the girl." Hudson told the woman breathlessly.

The woman looked down at me and smiled. "Hello. I'm Hilda Igora, the owner of this store. Hudson said he was talking to you about the dragon and when he told you the day of his hatching you wanted to see the dragon. I'm assuming this was when you came into your magic."

"Yes, ma'am." I replied respectfully.

"It seems odd that you came into your magic so late, most get it around the age of five or earlier. Were your parents worried?" Hilda asked politely.

"No, they were more alarmed when my brother went silent in the middle of a word yet his mouth was still moving." At her confused look I clarified, "My parents are muggles."

"I've done quite a bit of research about this kind of dragon in history and only once has one gone to a muggle-born."

"Okay…" I didn't quite know what to say to that.

"Now, the question is what we are going to do about this. Hudson tells me you're going to attend Hogwarts. Great school, if I do say so myself. I'm going to owl the Headmistress and tell her what's going on. I assume you're here with your parents." Hilda said positively.

"Actually, no. I'm here with Severus Snape." I informed her hesitantly.

"Severus Snape. Is he here?"

A silky voice replied from behind Hilda. "Miss Ashburn what is going on here?"

"The dragon has picked her. I do believe I will give it to her free of price just so that I don't have to turn it over to the dragon trainer that thinks it's best to kill the poor thing." Hilda answered before I had a chance to.

"I'm pretty sure you know the rules of such things, Miss Igora." Snape said standing beside me now.

"Which is why I'm going to owl the Headmistress immediately. I'm sure she'll understand. Besides there are rumors that she's getting a dragon trainer to teach at the school this year." Hilda countered.

"Do what you wish," he said to Hilda before turning to me. "I'm assuming you've picked out the dog on your own before all this occurred.

I looked down at the puppy in my arms. "Yes, sir." I'm a naturally polite child most of the time but something about Snape demanded not only politeness but respect.

"Give it to me." I handed him the puppy. He turned toward Hudson. "Unlock the dragon's cage and go get what will be needed for both animals."

Hudson pulled out his wand and waved it a bit muttering what I assumed were the spells he was using. Before walking off to get the supplies I would need to take care of my new pets. "You need to carefully get the dragon out of its cage." Snape said.

As soon as I lifted the top of the cage the dragon flew up and gracefully landed on my shoulder, nuzzling its head against my cheek. "That was easy enough," I said.

"Hmm. I don't think the dragon will leave your presence so you're going to have to take it with you to get you wand. I will send everything else to the school." Snape said, eyeing the dragon carefully.

"Okay. There's probably a leash amongst the supplies for the puppy so I can walk her with me instead of either one of us carrying her."

"Good. I'm going to pay and see if Miss Igora has gotten a reply yet." Said Snape before he walked to where I assumed the check-out was. I turned my head to look at the beautiful small dragon on my shoulder. I slowly raised my hand to pet her, stopping a little bit away. She moved her head into my hand and if she was a cat she probably would've purred, as it was she sighed as if in contentment.

Snape walked back with a scowl on his face. "The Headmistress wants to see you."

Great, school hasn't even started and I'm being called to the headmistress's office, I thought. I honestly must have been in shock about the whole dragon thing because normally at the prospect of getting into trouble I've got sweaty palms and am just about ready to scream; right now I'm just sarcastic so maybe this will go better than usual.

**A/N: Is that better? I honestly couldn't believe how many type-os I had when I went through it.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Snape led me out of the store and I barely acknowledged what was going on around me. I had a freaking dragon, how many people can say that? After a couple minutes of walking Snape suddenly seemed to notice that he was practically dragging me behind him. I think he tried to get my attention for some time before I finally even realized we'd stopped walking. "Miss Ashburn," Snape said to me, "I'm aware that this is completely unexpected and frightening but you honestly need to pull yourself together."

I shook my head and tried to comprehend what he was saying to me. He was aware that this was "frightening" and "unexpected"? I didn't know dragons existed in real life until fifteen minutes ago, hell I didn't know that magic was real or that I was a witch until a couple weeks ago! I took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, what are we doing now?"

Snape seemed to search my face for a moment before nodding to himself and saying, "Headmistress McGonagall said to come to her immediately so that's where we are going now. I'm afraid you'll have to get your wand at a different time. Do you understand?"

I nodded before looking to the small dragon on my shoulder and found that she seemed aggravated for some reason. I looked at her for a moment and then back at Snape. I stepped away from Snape a little and she seemed to relax fractionally. I stepped closer again and she tensed so I stepped away again and said to Snape, "Umm, sir? My new pet doesn't seem comfortable…" I trailed off hoping that Snape would get what I was saying.

Snape shrugged and looked like he wasn't overly surprised. "I know that Tibetan Impressions normally don't like their person to be close to strangers or anyone if possible. I was hoping that she would be so wrapped up in finally finding her person that she wouldn't notice but I guess we don't have that kind of luck," Snape informed me.

Tibetan Impression? Such an odd name, I thought to myself. "Okay, then. How are we getting to Hogwarts?" I asked Snape.

Snape sighed. "I was planning on apparating there."

I thought about it before shrugging. "I guess we won't know what's okay with her until we try it, will we?"

Snape nodded before we walked over to a circle on the path. "This is an apparition point," he didn't elaborate because I think he could tell I couldn't handle anymore new information and he was right.

Snape offered his forearm for me to hold onto again as I looked around me. Ice was on my shoulder, I'm pretty sure that counts as holding on, I thought to myself, but I don't think me holding on to the puppy's leash does. So I picked the puppy up and held her in my arms before lightly grasping Snape's offered arm. I closed my eyes seconds before I felt that pulling in my stomach. I waited a couple seconds after I felt the ground under my feet to open my eyes. Luckily when I did open my eyes the world wasn't spinning around me. A couple seconds after opening my eyes I felt eight points of sharp pains on my shoulder. I turned to look at the small dragon perched on my shoulder; she had her face hidden in my light brown hair and her claws were digging into my shoulder through my clothes. She looked absolutely terrified and I think I was lucky that she hadn't burned me to a crisp.

I glanced at Snape to find him watching my new pet intently. "I think that apparating is out," I told him.

He just nodded and said, "You should probably find a way to calm her before she draws blood."

I didn't respond, instead I slowly lifted my hand and gently started running my hand down her back. Her scales were smooth and glinting in the sunlight. She seemed to relax with every pass of my hand over her scales; eventually she lifted her head and nuzzled against my cheek.

After couple minutes Snape just started walking and I became aware of what was around me. There were tall, wrought iron gates in front of me and trees on either side of the path I was standing on. I put the puppy back down on the ground and gave a slight tug on the leash to make sure that she walked along side me before walking off and following behind Snape.

I was thinking about all the new developments in my life when I suddenly realized that I hadn't even named my new pets yet. I looked at the small ice blue dragon perched on my shoulder and said, "Ice." She looked up instantly and somehow conveyed her approval of the name. I nodded before turning my gaze to the puppy walking happily alongside me. I thought about it for a moment saying, "Max?" The puppy didn't look up and when I glanced at Ice she seemed to be looking at me incredulously. "Okay, fine." I thought for another minute before saying, "Sam?" The puppy looked up at me with her baby blue eyes and barked, this time I didn't even need to look at Ice to feel her approval.

I'd been so caught up in naming my new pets I hadn't even glanced at the castle that had come into view. It was magnificent and absolutely over powering. Honestly, I was intimidated, this was the school I was going to be living in for the next couple months – no, I corrected myself – the next couple years. Shit, I thought to myself, how the hell am I supposed to get used to this? I don't care if I have weeks, months, years or a freaking life time there was no way I would ever get used to living in a freaking CASTLE.

Before I knew it we were standing before two huge, oak doors. I was starting to question if we'd be able to get them open when Snape seemed to just push with the same amount of power he would use for a normal sized door and it opened. I grinned and thought to myself, I love magic.

I followed Snape through various hallways, past talking and moving portraits and windows with breathtaking views. But I was way too nervous to actually soak in my surrounding, and Snape was walking too fast. I still couldn't believe that school hadn't even started yet and I was already being called to the Headmistress's office; I knew that it had nothing to do with anything I'd done but it was still a bad start to my Hogwarts career.

Finally we were standing before a statue of an eagle with its wings spread. Snape mumbled a password and the statue started to spiral upwards leaving stairs in its stead. Snape motioned for me to step onto the spiraling staircase so it would carry me upwards, so I did. When the stairs stopped I was standing in front of a normal sized oak door.

I lightly knocked on the door and I heard a terse female voice say, "Enter." I opened the door to see a woman with graying brown hair pulled back in a harsh bun. She was wearing a pair of green robes. The woman smiled when I hesitantly opened the door before her gaze drifted behind me. "Thank you, Severus. Now, you can go and rest while we handle this matter."

"No, Minerva, I cannot leave because young Miss Ashburn's mother is a good friend of mine and has asked me to look after her daughter while she is here and I believe this is precisely the type of thing she wants me to be here for," Snape replied from behind me.

The headmistress sighed before saying, "Very well, then. Charlie, what do you think of the situation?"

I just then saw a tall, well muscled, red headed man sitting in one of the chairs across the desk from the headmistress. He had eyes the same color of Ice's scales and they were disturbingly intent as they looked from me to Ice and back again. He suddenly stood and I saw just how tall he really was; he was probably at least 6' 6" with broad shoulders, muscled biceps and thighs the size of tree trunks. All he needed was a bright red beard and he would easily pass for the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk. He looked down at me before slowly reaching a hand towards me. The closer his hand got the tenser both Ice and I got. When the hand was less than three inches from Ice's snout I grabbed his wrist. My fingers didn't even come close to touching, as soon as my hand made contact those intent blue eyes met mine. I didn't say a word I just shook my head no and took a step back.

"I wasn't going to hurt her; I just wanted to see how she reacted to someone else's touch," the red headed giant said patronizingly.

I glared at him and said, "If you'd bothered to ask you would've already known instead of getting three inches away from getting your hand fried to a crisp. She doesn't like is when someone's too close to me, how do you think she would've reacted to someone touching her?"

The red headed man blinked, taken aback by my attitude. The headmistress decided to cut in then and said, "Miss Ashburn this is Charlie Weasley, he's thinking about teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year he's a dragon trainer and a very good one too. Charlie this is Allyssa Ashburn." I simply nodded in both understanding and greeting.

"Yes, it's very easy to tell when a dragon trainer is good; if they're dead or permanently seriously injured they aren't good but if they're like Charlie here and have escaped with a few minor scars then they're considered good," Snape added with a chuckle earning a glare from Charlie and the headmistress and a faint smile from me. "Oh, yes, Miss Ashburn this charming Scottish lady is Headmistress and Transfiguration Mistress Minerva McGonagall." I gave McGonagall a nod in greeting too.

"Right, now that we've discovered that Miss Ashburn's pet is against contact with other people, what do you say is the next step Charlie?" McGonagall asked the younger man.

I glanced at Weasley only to see that he'd been staring at me (or was he just staring at Ice?) at the sound of his name he tore his gaze away and cleared his throat before replying, "Well, there's really nothing we can do except hope that Miss Ashburn's dragon adjusts to having other people around her without incident. I think it would be a good idea for Miss Ashburn to have her own rooms or at least something more private that a dorm because time away from other people will relax – what did you say her name was?"

"Ice," I answered even though I hadn't actually mentioned her name.

"Right. It'll relax Ice so that she doesn't get too stressed and snap," Weasley finished.

"Well, where her rooms are would depend on what house she's in," McGonagall said with a frown.

"Minerva I'm sure sorting her three days early won't make that much difference and since no one will know no one can complain about it," Snape sneered.

McGonagall sighed before going to one of the shelves and picking up an old pointy hat. Instantly the folds seem to make a face and it said, "I didn't think I had to do any work for another three days, what's the meaning of this? I was working on my song you know, they don't write themselves!"

"Dear, how about you sit down," the elderly woman suggested. I complacently sat rigidly in one of the chairs next to the one Weasley had been sitting in.

McGonagall put the old hat on my head and it sighed when it was put down. "How interesting; a great future awaits you no matter where you are placed but where fits you best? You're very smart and a fast learner but Ravenclaw would be much too boring for you. You'd eat the Hufflepuffs for breakfast. That leaves Slytherin and Gryffindor. Such troubled times we're recovering from so I believe I'll put you in . . . . Gryffindor!" Okay, that was the second weirdest thing that's ever happened to me, the first is a tie between having a dragon as a pet and being a witch. I still had no idea why they actually put the hat on my head but I wasn't about to ask any questions, I'll probably just ask another student.

"That's splendid, now she can share rooms with Hermione Granger," McGonagall said.

"She's going to be turned into a know-it-all if you put her there Minerva," Snape sneered.

"Now, Severus, she's one of the reasons you're still alive today so hush. Besides, Miss Granger is a hero of the wizarding world and she still decided to come back and finish her NEWTs; she's a woman to be admired not mocked Severus Snape." Obviously this Hermione Granger was very important and Snape didn't like her very much yet she saved his life; interesting but I'll think about it later. McGonagall turned to Weasley again and said, "Charlie why don't you go introduce Miss Ashburn to Miss Granger, I think Miss Granger is in the library as usual."

Weasley nodded before saying, "Our conversation from earlier is not finished Minerva; I will not be nagged into taking this position even it is two of the most feared women in wizarding Britain."

"Very well, Charlie. We will continue our conversation after you get back," McGonagall replied.

I followed Weasley out of the office, down the spiraling stair case, past more talking and moving paintings and more breathtaking views, up and down moving staircases (those really freaked me out), down hallways that looked like they never ended and finally passed a door that led to shelves and shelves packed with books. Well, this told me one thing about my new roommate: she liked reading probably more than I did and she wasn't afraid to read text books either, in fact it almost seemed like she preferred them.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

A/N: This is my first fanfic and I really want some kind of response from it. I'm not going to beg for reviews like some authors do but I really would like some. Even if you only review on one chapter whether it's the first one or just one you like really well or didn't like. Some of the character might be a little OOC but can't always get the characters exactly like they are in the books.

Diclaimer: I don't own anything that's familiar, obviously.

We walked until Charlie spotted a bushy haired girl bent over a book at one of the tables. "Hermione." He greeted her.

"Hey, Charlie. What's up?" She said looking up from her book.

"Is that any way to talk to your professor?" Charlie teased.

"So you've decided to take the position, then?" Hermione asked. I was starting to get really uncomfortable, they were talking like old friends despite the obvious age difference.

"Yeah, it's really hard to say no when you have both McGonagall and my mum nagging at you. Besides no I get to nag Ron about not grabbing you while he had the chance." Charlie said with a smile.

"We both know that Ron has already started Auror training along with Harry. Surprisingly, he's actually doing well with it too. He's getting serious with Lavender too. Don't ruin it for him. I might still be mad at him for cheating on me he was still my friend for seven years and if you haven't noticed I don't have too many of those." Hermione scolded.

"I've brought you a replacement for Ron, he's a git anyway. I thoroughly approve of this one, she's got a pet dragon." Charlie said, finally stepping from in front of me so Hermione could see me.

"Hi, I'm Hermione Granger." She introduced herself after rolling her eyes at Charlie.

"Allyssa Ashburn." I said shaking her out stretched hand.

Her eyes caught the blue form on my shoulder and her eyes widened. "Is that really your pet dragon?" She asked.

"Yeah. Her name is Ice." Hermione gave a chuckle at the name. "I was wondering if you could help me find a book about her breed considering I know absolutely nothing."

"Why didn't you research before buying it?" Great she now thought that I was totally stupid.

"I didn't know I was getting a dragon. Apparently this kind of dragon picks one person and attaches themselves to them forever. Actually I guess choose isn't exactly the right word. They just have one person, they don't choose. The only other information I know about it is that they hatch on the day that their person gets their magic." I might've sounded a little defensive but what the hell I felt a little defensive, she implied that I was stupid enough to buy a pet before being fully capable of taking care of it.

"So you don't know the specific name of the type of dragon?" Hermione asked looking frustrated at my lack of knowledge even though I'd given her my excuses. It wasn't like I was going to let her suffer in the cage some more so that I could research and see if I'd be able to take care of her, by the time I was finished with my research the store owner might've had to give in and let the dragon trainer kill her. I just shook my head in response to her question. So Charlie told her the breed of dragon and I thought, how sad is it that he knows more about my pet than I do?

"They're very rare so there isn't very much information available about them but I have come across some books that mention them, but no books that are dedicated to just them." Hermione said, a thoughtful frown on her face.

"Well, if you get those books for Miss Ashburn I'm sure that would be enough information for now." Charlie answered for me. "In the mean time I have to go and tell Mum that I've given in and am going to teach, let's just hope that the rumors that the position is haunted aren't true."

Hermione laughed a little as Charlie left the library. "So how long have you known Charlie?" I asked wondering why they seemed so close.

"Umm. I only met him twice before his mom convinced him to come home during the holidays this year, because the war is over and she wanted all her kids close by, I guess. She's been nagging him all summer to take the job she even got McGonagall on it when she started to doubt that he wouldn't give in with just her." Hermione explained. Seeing my still confused look she explained further, "My best friend, Ron, is his youngest brother. After the war everyone expected that Ron followed through on his 'feelings' that he had toward me. I think he acted to please his mom but I found out a couple months in that he was cheating on me with Lavender Brown. They'd dated back in fourth year and everything but no one expected him to do anything about it after that." She sighed. "Anyway, everyone in his family was and kinda still is pissed at him for doing that to me."

I nodded. That must've sucked. She didn't seem too upset about it now though, I guess you get over things though. "You sound like you're over it, but that doesn't make it any less wrong. So he's going out with this Lavender person, but what about you?" I didn't want to ask any uncomfortable questions but I didn't want her to think I didn't care. I really wanted to have a friend here, even if they weren't in my year.

"No, not yet. Sure I've gotten plenty of offers and everything, being a war heroine does have some perks but none that have interested me. They're all either hot and dumb or intelligent and as attractive as a toad." She shrugged. "Besides they are all so immature."

I smiled at the last bit. I had the same thoughts constantly about the guys at me other school. My friends had dated some guys but I couldn't understand why they put up with them when they were so immature and always so annoying. "So which category does Ron fall under?" I asked.

"The first one. Well, he's not really attractive but he isn't smart either." She looked confused.

"So he's kinda got the worst of both worlds?" I asked jokingly.

Hermione laughed. "Yeah, but he's sweet. I don't know why I really liked him all that much now that I look back on it."

"You said war heroine, what do you mean?" I felt really embarrassed having to ask but I'm new to all of this so I really hoped she wouldn't make fun of me for it.

"You know there was a war don't you?" She looked totally surprised by my question but she didn't burst out laughing at least.

"Yeah I know there was a war I just don't know any of the details." I answered.

"How could you not? It was only a year ago."

I looked away and sighed. "I'm from America. My magic only came a couple months ago."

She looked even more confused. "If you're from America then why are you going to school here?"

I sighed again. "My mom works with the US government. She helped to make sure that the US didn't asked too many questions about what was going on over here during the war. They owed her a favor and when I got my powers she asked that I be sent to a good school where she knew someone she trusted would look after me. During the whole war she'd been talking to Severus Snape so that she knew what was going to happen so that she made sure she could be there to sort out the confusion. Because he's a teacher here they sent me here."

She looked surprised. "You're mom trusts Professor Snape? After he was a spy and killed Dumbledore and everything?"

"Yes. He explained everything that was happening and I think that she's the only one he told everything to because if he told everything to someone over here it would affect the plans he and Dumbledore had made and would make Dumbledore's sacrifice completely useless. Did you even know that Dumbledore was dying anyway because of the curse that started in his hand?" How is it that I seem to know about this stuff when she was apparently one of the key factors in defeating Voldemort, or whatever his name was?

"No, he never told anyone that." She said quietly. She looked away and waved her wand and books came off the shelves and stacked on the table next to her. "These are the books that will give you the information that you want." She said as she handed them to me.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad or anything I just . . . I don't know what I wanted to do but Snape doesn't deserve to be condemned after everything he's been through." I sighed and started to turn around before I looked back at her and asked, "Umm. Because of my unusual pet I've gotten my own room and I was wondering if you would mind helping me decorate?"

Hermione looked up and smiled. "Of course I'll help. It's okay. I just… Never mind."

I smiled at Hermione and started toward my rooms. To my surprise I actually remembered my way back. When we were back in front of the portrait again I realized that I'd forgotten to change the password before leaving. "Molly." I told the portrait and it opened. Hermione raised an eyebrow at my password. "What? That was the password before and I forgot to change it before I left." I defended.

Hermione shrugged and followed me through. I put the books down on the small table by the couch and gently put Ice on the back of the couch. Hermione's eyes were drawn to Ice. "She's so cute, it's hard to believe that she could be so dangerous." Hermione said.

"Well she almost fried Charlie arm off when he tried to touch her. She growled at Snape when he went to grab my arm to apparate us here." I said with a shrug.

"Really? From what I've heard about Charlie he's a natural with dragon and always has been."

"I don't know what it is but she really doesn't like him. She likes him even less than Snape." I told Hermione, earning a shocked look that I just shrugged off. "Now, where's-" I didn't even get to finish my sentence before Sam came bounding in. She stopped suddenly when she saw Hermione. She looked back at Ice and some silent communication went on before Sam stopped first at me to get a pat on the head and a scratch behind the ear before going up to Hermione and jumping up on her leg trying to get her attention.

"Hello." Hermione said to Sam as she crouched down to pet her. "She's adorable. What's her name?" Hermione asked when she stood up.

"Sam." I answered. Hermione looked like she was about to ask another question before the girl in the portrait interrupted and said, "Professor Snape is here to see you."

I frowned. Why would Snape be here to see me? "Let him in." I replied.

"Miss Ashburn it seems that both of us have forgotten that we ever made it to the last and most important item on you supply list; a wand. So we have to go out again to get one." Snape said a he entered the room. Once he was in he said, "Hello, Miss Granger."

"Hello, Professor. I could take Allyssa to get her wand if you have other things to do." Hermione offered.

Snape nodded. "That would be good." With that Snape left the room with his robes billowing behind him.

I looked at Hermione, honestly I was confused. Why would the Head Girl agree to take me shopping? It wasn't as if she didn't have friends, true none of them were back yet but still. From what Charlie had said it wouldn't surprise me if she wanted to go and spend some more time in the library preparing for the upcoming year. She had some big exams coming up at the end of the year that I didn't doubt she was already studying for. Yet she had just volunteered to go with me to get a wand. "Why?" I finally asked.

"Why what? Why did I just offer to help you? I did that because you asked me to help decorate and I doubt that you expected to have to do this much decorating, so if I go with you instead of you going with Snape then we can buy some decorations." Hermione answered with a smile.

I eyed Ice as I thought about this possibility. She wouldn't like having to be around people. Maybe I could get some kind of bag to carry her in instead of her riding on my shoulder all the time. That way she wouldn't attract so much attention and people would always want to touch her if they didn't notice she was there. The only problem would be that she might not like riding in a bag. "We'll get the wand first and then we'll see if it's a good idea to do extra shopping." I told Hermione.

She looked confused for a second before she followed my gaze to where Ice was flying around Sam and playing with her new toy. They were actually getting along which was good because it would get really annoying if they didn't. She nodded in understanding but she still looked confused. "Why does she have to come along?"

"If she's not in my presence then she could get very agitated. I can't have someone else watch her because she only liked me. Trust me, if I wouldn't put her through being around so many people if I didn't think she might hurt herself if I left her alone." I told Hermione. Then I thought of another problem with her plan or leaving the castle at all, "Ice doesn't do well with apparating. Is there any other way we could get to Diagon Ally?"

Hermione nodded. "We could take the floo but I don't know how well she'll react to that either."

"Well, you never know until you try. You go first to show me how and then I'll have a talk with Ice and tell her that it's okay and that it won't be bad. So you might have to wait a moment or two before we come through." I told Hermione. I really hoped that Ice would be okay with this form of travel because I don't that muggle transportation would be very convenient in the wizarding world.

"Okay." Hermione said with a nod. She walked over to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of the green powder from the box beside it. She stepped in the fireplace, said, "Diagon Alley" and threw the powder down. Green flames erupted and when they went down Hermione was gone.

"That doesn't look too scary." I said to Ice who must've been listening to our conversation because she was now perched on my shoulder. "Just like I said before. This might seem a little scary but if you do anything you might end up hurting yourself or me." She nodded just like a human and then I did the same thing Hermione did. The next thing I knew I was standing in the middle of a busy street.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

I looked at Ice to make sure that she was okay and she seemed fine. It looks like we've found our mode of transportation, I thought as I found Hermione's gaze and nodded. She nodded and led the way to a small shop called Olivander's. "Olivander has been around for years, he remember everyone. If your wand gets broken he'll remember exactly what kind you had before and he might even have a recommendation on how to improve your spell casting by changing wands." Hermione said.

I nodded absently. I was paying attention to what she was saying I was just paying more attention to how Ice was taking the crowds. She was okay. Maybe a little tense but she wasn't about to fry every passing person and that was good. As long as we didn't enter any really crowded stores she should be okay. We walked into Olivander's and an old man on a ladder swung around.

"Miss Granger, nice to see you again. How's your wand treating you?" He asked.

"It's good, thanks. My friend here is looking to buy her first wand." Hermione told him.

"Really? What's your name?" He asked me. He didn't seem weird but he did seem kind of absent as if thinking about something else or trying to remember something.

"Allyssa Ashburn." I answered. His frown depended as if something didn't quite make sense.

"How long have you had your magic?" He asked as if he was trying to pinpoint something that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"A couple months. I was a late bloomer." I said having enough people tell me that today that I didn't want him to point out the obvious.

His features relaxed and he smiled. "No, dear, you aren't a late bloomer. Someone put a bond on your magic until you reached a certain age. Why I don't know but someone definitely did bond your magic. Are your parents particularly powerful?" He asked.

Someone bound my magic until I turned twelve? Why? My thoughts drifted back to what the sorting hat had said _might have been dangerous for her power to go uncontrolled like most children's do._ Maybe I'd done something when I was younger that alerted the wizarding world that I was powerful and they didn't want any exposure or anything so they bound my magic until I was old enough to start school. "No my parents are muggles." I replied to his question absently.

"Hmm. No matter. Is that a dragon?" He asked finally noticing Ice sitting on my shoulder.

"Yes. Just a strange thing that's happened to me today. I'm a bit overwhelmed to tell you the truth and now I just learned that my magic was bound until my twelfth birthday. That doesn't really make any sense because I'm from America and I read that the schools there start at five just like muggle schools do. So unless someone expected me to come here to go to school why would they bind my magic till now?" I was actually just thinking out loud and I didn't really care if Hermione or Olivander answered my question because to me they were rhetorical.

"Doesn't matter now. I'm sure someone will answer your questions. Now about your wand. I'll be right back." He moved back amongst the stacked of wands and was mumbling to himself as he looked for the wand he wanted me to try. "Here you go, dear. Give it a wave."

I gave the wand a little flick and nothing happened. I gave it a wave and the glass of water on Olivander's desk shattered. I quickly put it down on his desk away from the spilled water. Hermione got out her own wand and cast a spell to vanish the spilled water. Olivander gave me another wand to try. This one felt different even though I wasn't quite sure if it was better or worse, it just felt different. I just gave this one a flick and a different wand flew to my hand. "Let me see that one." Olivander said. I handed him the box and he read something on it that probably told him what it was made of. He shrugged and handed it to me. "Try it out." This wand felt different from the others, it felt good in my hand, like it was made for it. I tried to focus on what I wanted to happen instead of something random happening. I focused on changing the color of one of the umbrellas by the door. It changed from black to purple. I nodded my approval.

Olivander looked confused again. "That wand isn't one of the one's I would've chosen for you because it's very long and is most often used as a secondary wand when doing very powerful magic." Olivander said.

I frowned in thought before saying, "The sorting hat said that I was very powerful and that it might have been dangerous if I had gotten my magic at the normal age because uncontrolled it could cause harm."

Olivander nodded. "That would explain why your magic was bound. It would also explain that you would need a long wand for outside control but why you would need a core of snake venom, phoenix feather, honey and a raven feather doesn't make any sense at all."

I shrugged. I didn't really know what having all of that in the core of your wand meant and I was still kind of thinking about my magic being bound. "Thanks Olivander but we really need to be going. Allyssa still has to do some shopping before we head back to school and we're hoping to get back with time to spare before dinner so that we can start decoration her room." Hermione said, cutting through the awkward silence.

"Of course, I'm sorry." Olivander quickly put the wand back in the box and handed it to me. He said it was free of charge because I was a friend of Hermione's and had presented him with such an interesting puzzle. I tried to disagree and pay for the wand but he just laughed it off so I said that I wanted to know if he figured anything out in regard to my wand. He told me he would as Hermione and I walked out of the store.

"Well that was interesting." I said to Hermione as we walked toward some store that Hermione thought we should buy decorations at. I was just following along. I didn't really have any plans for my room other than if she tried to put pink in my room I was going to barf. I didn't really want it all one color. I knew that when I went home during the holidays I was going to bring some more stuff from home.

"Yeah. It still seems strange that someone bound your powers. Do you have any idea how you want to decorate your rooms?" She asked as we walked into the store. It was really crowded which was good. It still had quite a few people in it but they were pretty spread out.

"Not really. I don't want just one color and I don't want any pink but other than that I have no idea." I told her as I glanced around the store.

"Okay. A color doesn't have to be the focal point. At home what does your room look like?"

"Well, we never did get around to painting it or put in new carpet so the walls and carpet are white. My bed spread, which I brought with me, is purple. I guess I want the main colors in my room to be purple and green. I really wish I'd brought at least some of my pandas with me. That would help. I could've made a bed for Ice with my pandas." I was pretty much talking to myself and when I realized what I said I blushed. The one childish thing that I enjoyed was stuffed animals. I loved them, they're so cute. I love pandas and have quite a few around my room at home that I love.

"So pandas. Did you bring any with you?" She asked she thought about what she could do with them.

"I brought one." I admitted. I'd been hesitant to bring it but I'd decided in the end that I didn't really care what other people thought of me besides it was one of the few gifts my older brother had bought for me over the years.

"Okay." She looked at me and noticed how embarrassed I was about admitting that I still had stuffed animals. She smiled at me and said, "Don't tell anyone but I have some stuffed animals in my room too. I keep them in my trunk so that when my friends come up to my room they don't see them but I just can't seem to throw any of them away. I'll probably keep them forever and give them to my children and when my children are old and if the stuffed animals are still intact I'll keep them on a shelf and talk to them when I'm lonely."

I smiled at her. I wasn't sure that anyone understood how stuffed animals seemed alive. I'd talked to my stuffed animals when I was alone. I'd cuddled with them when I was sick or upset. It would be like throwing away your best friend. "When I go home over the holidays I'll probably bring more back now that I know I have my own room. Or I could ask my mom to send a few things from my room." I didn't really want to wait till winter to decorate me room. I didn't know how much time I would be spending in my room but I still didn't want it to be depressing in there considering it was very possible I would be spending quite a bit of time in their considering my new pet and my own unsocial nature.

"Actually I was thinking more along the line of asking McGonagall if I could apparate us to your house and just shrink the stuff you want and bring it back with us." Hermione said. We were kind of just walking around the store in the least crowded parts we weren't really looking for anything but we were browsing.

I started to consider it. "Can you apparate across an ocean and several hundred miles?" I asked.

She thought about it. "No but McGonagall could make us a port key."

"Are port keys like apparating?" I asked.

"Not quite." Hermione seemed to be thinking about a way to explain it.

"Is the feeling the same?" I asked remembering that I would have to take Ice with us.

Hermione understood my question. "No, it's like spinning in the air and then you drop down. The first time you drop hard on the ground and it hurts but you can learn to walk down to the ground. I don't think it would freak her out too much."

"Okay. I guess we could try it and see how she reacts. The only problem is that if she doesn't react well we're out of luck on a way back." I said.

"What if we were to take a port key somewhere just to see how she reacts? Not very far and to somewhere where we could easily access the floo to get back to school through." Hermione suggested. I thought about it before nodding. That would work better. "Is there anything else you need?" Hermione asked.

"I kind of wanted to see if I could get some kind of bag to carry Ice in so that she isn't as noticeable. I wouldn't keep her in there all the time just at meals and while walking in the hallways. During class I should be able to put her in my lap and keep her quiet." I told Hermione. I knew the teachers wouldn't appreciate it if Ice distracted the class, not that she would do it on purpose because the less attention she attracted the less people I would have to convince that they shouldn't get near her or she would fry their arm off. I'd learned my lesson when she almost did that with Charlie Weasley and she totally hated him.

Hermione nodded and took a moment to think before walking out of the store. We walked for a few blocks and I noticed every time we passed an apparition point and heard the _pop_ Ice tensed until we passed by and could no longer hear the _pops_. Finally we reached the store Hermione had been looking for. The sales person immediately came to help us because no one else was in the store. I smiled because that was very good thing. It meant that Ice would relax and would probably let me put her in a few bags to see how she liked them because she wouldn't have people staring at her the whole time.

"Hello, my name is Lauren. What are you looking for today?" She was a pretty petite blonde wearing a pink skirt suit. What a gaudy color, I thought to myself.

"Hi. I'm looking for a bag to carry my pet." I answered while motioning vaguely to my shoulder.

When she saw what I meant her eyes widened. "Wouldn't it be safer and easier just to keep it at home or even set it free?" Ignorant bitch I thought to myself.

"I would be more than happy to leave it at home or set it free if I could but as it is she won't leave my presence and if I put her in a cage to keep her home she would most likely hurt herself trying to get out. Setting her free would make her miserable. Now, stop asking questions and please point me to something that would work." I had gritted my teeth in annoyance and I felt Ice tense too. I made a conscious effort to relax because me being annoyed was making Ice tense and if she was tense it wouldn't take much for her to start breathing fire at the young sales person and that wouldn't be good at all.

"O-Of course. We have bags that people carry cats and small dogs in." Lauren said as she hurriedly walked away. Apparently I'd made her nervous by showing my temper. Well, that's too bad, I thought. I'd had a really long day and I didn't have time to have some random sales person asking me questions that I'd already had to answer today and I had no doubt that I wouldn't have to answer them tomorrow as well. I was still getting used to the time change and it was about three in the afternoon here and I'd been up since six thirty this time which was about eleven thirty pm at home and I was dead tired and it was catching up with me. (A/N I have an aunt that lives in the UK and I think it's a seven hour difference so that's what I'm using if you were wondering.)

I looked at the bags that the sales person showed me. They were all bright colors and a bit small for Ice to get comfortable in. After she ran out of animal carriers for me I started looking at the regular bags. I found a navy leather bag that hung across my body and came down to about my hip but I could adjust that if necessary. I looked inside to see what it felt like and it was butter soft leather. I gently took Ice off my shoulder and opened the bag to show her that I wanted her to go in it. I hadn't had to put her in any others because I didn't like them. She gracefully floated down into the bag. She had plenty of room and I could probably even put a toy of some kind in there with her to keep her occupied. It was perfect. "What do you think, Ice? Could you stay in there so that you don't attract so much attention? You wouldn't have to stay in there for long periods of time." I asked her. She answered me by snuggling deeper and yonning. I put the strap over my head and settled it on my shoulder. Luckily she wasn't very heavy so it didn't bite into my shoulder.

"Find one?" Lauren asked. She'd left me alone after saying that they didn't have any more animal carriers. Now she was as perky as she had been when we'd walked in and I really hated perky people.

"Yeah." I turned so that she could see the bag without me having to take Ice out because I'm pretty sure she was already asleep.

Lauren smiled and said, "That has been here forever and no one has wanted it because they all hated the color. They couldn't carry it while wearing black and no one could find shoes to match. So we put it on sale and still no one has wanted it." So over all I ended up getting it for a really good price. Hermione got a new bag too.

We walked back to a fireplace to that we could floo back to my rooms. "Allyssa Ashburn's rooms, Hogwarts." Hermione said before throwing the green powder down. I copied her actions and was soon standing in my living room. I looked around and noted that Snape had sent all my bags to my room.

Hermione glanced at her watch and started swearing, quite creatively. "Hermione, what's wrong?" I asked, frowning.

"I was supposed to meet Ron and Harry in Hogsmeade almost an hour ago for lunch." Hermione explained.

I felt my face fall. I'd been enjoying my time with Hermione. The age difference had been completely forgotten and we were comfortable with each other. "You'd better go then. Thanks for helping me today." I told her as I gently picked Ice out of her bag and put her in a chair by the fire place. She didn't wake up or even stir. She just snuggled into the chair cushion. Sam came bounding into the room and I quickly told her to be quiet so that she didn't wake Ice.

"Why don't you come with me and meet them?" Hermione offered.

I smiled and shook my head. "No, you won't get to see them much once school starts and I have to unpack everything. Besides, who knows what will happen if I'm not here when Ice wakes up. Thanks for inviting me though."

Hermione looked disappointment but said she'd be back to walk with me to the Great Hall for dinner. After Hermione left I took some of the bags to my bedroom and started putting clothes away. I hung up the robes in the closet and put my regular clothes in the drawers of the dresser. Then I went back down stairs to get the pet supplies. I put Sam's food and water dish in the living room. There were two perches for Ice so I put one in the living room and one in my bedroom.

After I got everything unpacked I went and took a shower. After everything that had happened today I really needed to relax but I didn't have time to take a bath and still be ready for dinner before Hermione came.

**A/N: Part of the next chapter will probably be Hermione talking to Harry and Ron. I've discovered a dilemma in the plot ALLYSSA IS ****WAY**** TOO YOUNG TO GET MARRIED! So in other words I can either have her get married really young for some excuse the Ministry makes up or I have to wait till at least her fifth year which I don't have the patients for. Please let me know if you have any other ideas.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

HPOV

I left Allyssa's rooms on my way to Hogsmeade to meet Ron and Harry. I was still uncomfortable around Ron and would've been happier if Allyssa had come with me for some support. I don't know what it was about her but it felt like we'd known each other for as long as I'd known Ron and Harry. We had so much in common. She'd seemed a little uncomfortable all day. It was probably being in a strange country with no one you knew around you but that didn't seem like that was it.

Maybe it was the shock of having a pet dragon and discovering that your magic was bound. That still didn't make sense to me; both of her parents are muggles so who would've bound her magic? She didn't seem to be taking it badly though. I doubt very many people be able to receive that kind of information from a complete stranger and barely blink an eye.

I walked into the Three Broomsticks and immediately saw Ron and Harry; it was probably because everyone in the room was staring at them even though they'd been there for over an hour. At least Ron hadn't brought Lavender with him. She still hadn't finished school either so I would have to deal with her enough then without him bringing her along.

"'Mione! You're late! Where have you been?" Harry demanded as soon as he saw me.

I felt myself blush in embarrassment. "I was helping someone. Sorry I'm late."

"That's fine. At least you have a decent excuse. We just got here fifteen minutes ago and expected to have to face your fury but you're even later than we were." Harry said with a laugh. Now that I looked at him I realized that he already seemed drunk, well not drunk but definitely tipsy.

"So what was your excuse?" I asked already guessing that it involved him and Ron passing some test or another so they went and had drinks with the other Aurors in training. I'd known that I'd be left out of some things when I decided not to join them in their training and go back to school but I did expect them to at least try and include me. Like owl me to say that they'd done well on some test or another and were going to toast their success with a couple shots of fire whisky.

"Well one of the other guys completed this test and we went out to toast. And then we started playing drinking games. The whole thing was a lot of fun." Harry said, holding back laughter.

"Don't all of you have work tomorrow?" They really didn't have any common sense. Allyssa does. We really do have a lot in common, I thought as I watched Harry's face turn from laughing to guilty.

"Yeah. You know I don't feel like apparating home, do you think McGonagall will let us stay in the castle just for tonight?" Harry looked like he was about to pass out. I looked to Ron to see that he was already there and was snoring loudly. "I mean it isn't like there are any students there yet."

I glared at him. I was still a student. I left school to go and help him defeat Voldemort and he totally takes everything I do for him and Ron forgotten. I still help them study. Ginny's gotten mad at Harry because he wasn't home or being really arrogant and I was the one who told her that he would get over it. Damn, why do I help them? "No, you two need to go home now. Obviously you aren't up for a round of butter beer on top of the fire whisky you've had so you can go home and we'll try to get together again on a Hogsmeade weekend sometime." With that I left them to get home. I had no doubt that they would; almost anyone would be willing to help the great intoxicated war heroes.

By the time I'd made it back to my own rooms I'd built up quite a bit of rage, so instead of walking into my rooms I walked passed them and down the hall to Allyssa's. The girl in the portrait smiled at me and her dog barked. "Hello. Do you know the password or do you just want me to let Miss Ashburn know you're here to see her?" The girl in the portrait asked.

"Just tell Allyssa I'm here." Now that I was here I wasn't sure that Allyssa would want to hear me bitching about Ron and Harry. If Ginny was here I probably would've went to her but that wasn't always the best option considering Ron was her brother and Harry was her boyfriend, at least I'm pretty sure that he's her boyfriend this week.

"Just a sec Hermione I'll be right there." I heard faintly through the portrait and then came, "Dammit, Sam that's the second one of your toys I've tripped over. I'm only letting you have one at a time from now on." Finally, Allyssa opened the door wrapped in a dark blue towel and her hair was wet. "Hi, is dinner earlier than I thought it was or am I late?" She asked.

I laughed. "No. I'm back earlier than expected." I told her.

"Oh. Okay. Come in then. I have to get dressed and I guess I should probably blow dry my hair even though I absolutely hate it because it takes way too long. Make sure you don't trip over Sam and that you don't get hit in the head by Ice, I guess she decided she needed to stretch her wings after her nap and I won't let her outside so she's flying around the room." With that she turned back and went up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Do you mind if I come up? I actually wanted to vent about something." I told her from the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah sure I have undergarments on I just wore a towel because I didn't know if anyone else was in the hall." She said. By the time I made it up stairs she was stepping into jeans and had a shirt lain out on the bed. "So what's up?"

"When I got to Three Broomsticks, a restraint/pub in Hogsmeade, Ron and Harry were piss drunk. While I was an hour late they'd only gotten there fifteen minutes before me and Ron was already passed out on the table. Harry was laughing about it until I reminded him that he had to work tomorrow and probably take the test that they were toasting one of their colleagues for passing. I swear they can be so stupid sometimes. I don't even know why I put up with them. At first I'm pretty sure it was because they were the only people willing to be friends with a bushy haired know-it-all. Then it was because they needed me and I didn't want to let them down, besides I liked the puzzled they made me solve because they were real and not just in the books that I read. Now they still need me but it doesn't feel the same, it feels like they've gotten used to needing me and now they use me because they know I won't say no. I have other friends now but they all only know me through Harry and Ron. Like Ron's sister, Ginny; I probably wouldn't know her at all if I wasn't friends with Ron. How can you be so dependent on someone and not even realize it until they aren't there as much anymore?"

"Hermione… I have this group of friends back home and about a year ago I started to realize that one of them is a real bitch. She's arrogant, turns everything into a competition and every time you try to tell her something that she does that you don't like she makes you feel guilty by bursting into tears. All these things suddenly assaulted me along with all the other little things that she does that are really annoying; like how she chews with her mouth open and how when she gets stuff stuck in her braces she sticks her finger in her mouth to get it, how she accuses our other friend of over reacting to everything, not that she doesn't, but she doesn't need to try and intervene if she wants it fixed she'll fix it. Anyway the point is that sometimes something happens and it suddenly makes you realize that your friends aren't as perfect as you thought they were. You start to realize that maybe they think too much of themselves or that they're pushing you away and you don't like it. I don't know what to tell you to do about it. What do you want to do about it?" She understood. Ginny probably would've gone off on her own rant about Harry that had absolutely nothing to do with what I was complaining about.

I thought about her question. What did I want to do about it? I didn't want to have to do anything about it; I just wanted things to go back to the way they were. But that wasn't a real answer. I probably should talk to them but what do I say, "You guys are really annoying and I'm just now realizing it, please make me ignorant of just how annoying you are"? They'd look at me like I was crazy and go back to have a good laugh about it with their Auror friends. Finally I sighed. "I don't know."

Allyssa smiled sadly at me and said, "I didn't either, I fled the country and left her for everyone else to deal with." We both burst out laughing. It was so easy to get along with her. Is she really only twelve? How can that be?

We talked for hours after that, deciding to eat dinner in her rooms instead of go to the Great Hall. We laughed and told stories about family and friends. My last thought before leaving her room that night was, _She's going to be utterly bored trying to have conversations with someone her own age._ What I didn't think about was that I was leaving school after this year and Allyssa wasn't one to make friends easily.

**A/N: That wasn't what I had planned for that chapter at all. Well I'm kinda in a pissy mood so that might've affected it. I still haven't gotten any ideas about the age dilemma; I really need help with that because if that doesn't make any sense then the whole story is going to fall apart. I love getting the e-mails that say people have added this to their alert list but I have yet to get a review. **** Did you guys like having it in Hermione's POV? I was thinking about doing some else's too, besides Charlie because it would be kind of weird for him to be crushing on a twelve-year-old.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

APOV

The two days before school officially started went by quickly. I spent most of my time with Hermione in the library reading about dragons or in my rooms playing with my new pets. Whenever I left my room I brought Sam along because the halls weren't crowded and I didn't have to worry about her getting trample and I put Ice in her bag where she comfortable, turns out she doesn't mind being in there for long periods of time. She often falls asleep in there while I'm in the library reading. I hoped that she would be able to do the same during my classes. I didn't expect her to sleep the whole day but she could sleep through the majority of my classes it would a lot better.

Then the time for the welcoming feast came and Hermione and I made our way to the Gryffindor table. She waved at Charlie who was sitting with the other teachers. He waved back. Snape wasn't at the Head table because he was going to lead the first years into the Great Hall for their sorting. It took about thirty minutes for all the first years to get sorted into their houses. McGonagall stepped up to the podium and the whole hall grew silent as she began her speech. "This is the year of new beginnings. Many suffered because of the war but we will not let that hinder us but allow it to make us stronger. Most have known loss. While we will always remember those who were killed we will move on with our lives like those we loved would want us to. We have a new teacher in the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts again this year and we are hoping that he will stay more than a year here with us. Charlie Weasley will be filing the position. Professor Snape is going back to his position as Potions Master. I know there has always been a sense of competition between the houses but let it be a friendly competition without prejudices." McGonagall paused before saying. "Welcome to our new students and welcome back to old friends. Enjoy the feast everyone."

Food magically appeared on the platters before us and the Great Hall erupted into a cacophony of sound. Ice crawled out of her bag and tried to get on the table to join in on the feast but I kept her sitting between me and Hermione. It was all very strange because while Ice was still tense with all these people around her she let Hermione pet her and sometimes she even road on her shoulder if I was getting ready still. From what I'd read in the books Hermione had given to me that first day it was because I was comfortable around Hermione that Ice trusted her. According to the books dragons like Ice were very perceptive to what their owners were feeling and what they thought of a specific person, place or thing. Hermione and I had failed to get permission from McGonagall to try to see how Ice reacted to traveling by port key and going home to get decorations from my room there, so we'd settled with changing the color of the walls and carpet to match my preference and getting the house elves to find some more furniture. I still wasn't quite content with it but it would do for now until I could go home and get some of my stuff and then it would feel more like home.

I handed some little pieces of chicken to Ice because the books said that eating normal food was good for them. I wasn't going to let Ice climb on the table and join in the meal completely but I fed her off my plate so that she wouldn't be too unhappy. I'd talked McGonagall into having the house elves prepare a small plate for Ice and have it delivered to my rooms so that Ice could eat there. She'd actually seemed pleased that I didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to Ice.

"Hermione who is the girl sitting next to you? She looks a little old to be a first year but I don't recognize her." A blonde haired girl who was sitting across the table from Hermione asked her.

"I'm Allyssa Ashburn. And I am a first year." I answered before Hermione could. "And you are?"

"Lavender Brown." So this was the girl that Hermione had caught Ron cheating on her with. I really didn't see why, she wasn't really pretty and she seemed completely stupid. The whole time we'd been sitting here the only thing she'd been doing was giggling and whispering with the girl sitting next to her while staring at the Head table and probably Charlie. "Why do you keep reaching food down under the table? Are you like saving it for later?"

That was totally uncalled for considering she was probably a good twenty pounds heavier than I was and I was at least four inches taller than her. I'd always been on the slim side. I laughed. "No but I wouldn't be surprised if you were." I thought I was really tempted to say it but that was a bad start to have with someone. "No." I didn't give her a reason because she didn't really need one.

"Then why put food under the table?" Lavender was really annoying. I rolled my eyes at her and was about to say something when I heard Ice growl from her place beside me. Hermione heard her too and her eyes widened, questioning why Ice was growling. I flicked my gaze to Lavender and I swear I saw Hermione smirk. I started petting Ice under the table, trying to calm her down. "Well? Are you going to answer my question or aren't you?" The sound of her voice wasn't helping Ice at all, it was really annoying to me too but I needed to relax and forget about her so that Ice could do the same. Just then Lavender started laughing. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard. I turned to Hermione and said, "Shut her up now before I let Ice do it." I probably would've let her too because I think the sharing emotions thing went both ways so it's really hard to calm down when Ice isn't calm. Who knew controlling your emotions was so hard?

"Lavender, shut up." Hermione looked like she wanted to add another insult to that but Charlie was walking toward us. That really wasn't good because Ice was tensing up even more as he approached.

Soon enough he was standing directly behind me. "Is there a problem here ladies?" Charlie asked.

"Hi, Charlie! I was just wondering why she was putting food under the table." Lavender said, playing the innocent. I rolled my eyes. This was retarded.

"She brought her pet to the feast and is feeding it. Do you have a problem with that, Miss Brown?" At least he didn't say pet dragon, I thought. He really needed to hurry this up though because he was drawing attention to us and he was making it harder for me to calm Ice down.

"Oh. Well she didn't say that, now did she Hermione? Can I see?" Lavender was already standing up trying to peer over the table.

Ice drew closer to me. "Lavender, sit back down. You're scaring her." I said quietly while I continued to pet Ice comfortingly. Charlie suddenly looked down at Ice and noticed how agitated she was.

"Miss Brown perhaps you really should sit back down." Charlie suggested firmly.

Luckily, Lavender did what Charlie told her to. "I just wanted to see it. Can you at least tell me what it is?" Lavender whined.

"It's a big scary snake that likes to eat people and it only likes me." I joked. Maybe it would keep her from bothering me. Charlie gave me a disapproving glance but didn't say anything. It was as close to the truth as she was going to get. Hermione was holding back laughter at the disgusted look on Lavenders face

"If you have a pet snake then you should be in slytherin." Lavender said. Looking at me like I was crazy for having a pet snake.

"I'm pretty sure your choice of pet doesn't affect what house you're put in." I told her.

"When did you get sorted anyway and where did you come from?" Lavender asked. I was glad that Charlie wasn't standing right behind me because Lavender's voice was really putting Ice on edge, not that I could blame her.

"I'm from the US. I got sorted into Gryffindor three days ago." I really wished that I could leave right then but no one else was and it would be weird if I just randomly got up and left.

"If you're from the US why are you going to school here? I'm sure there's plenty of magical school back there." Lavender said snottily.

Does she ever shut up? Or stop asking questions? Or shut the hell up? Wait, I already said shut up. Oh well. "I came here because my mom is friends with Snape. I'm not answering any more questions because I feel like I'm being interrogated." Luckily the two minutes before we were allowed to leave Lavender sat there in stunned silence. As soon as we were allowed to leave I got up with Ice in her bag and walked briskly out of the Great Hall. I could hear Hermione jogging to catch up with me.

"Allyssa, telling Lavender Brown that your mom is friends with Snape was probably not the greatest idea. She'll tell everyone in the school and then stories will be flying and it won't be good at all." Hermione warned me when she caught up.

"Hermione, I really don't care what people think of me. As long as they stay out of my face and away from Ice, I don't care what they do. If they get too close to Ice and she burns them then I'm the one that's going to get in trouble, not whoever it was that got hurt even though it's their fault for getting to close and not heeding my warning to get away." Yes I had it all worked out in my head that I was going to get in trouble that has something to do with Ice even though it'll probably be someone else's fault.

We walked together in companionable silence until Hermione got to her rooms. I still hadn't met Draco Malfoy yet. Hermione said that he was really annoying. We said good night and I made my way to my rooms. Sam immediately jumped at me and Ice flew out of her bag trying to relieve some of her tension no doubt. "Guys, I'm going to take a relaxing bath and then I'm going to turn in early because tomorrow is probably going to be pretty stressful. On the bright side, I won't have any classes with Lavender and on the downside I won't have any classes with Hermione." I told my pets who were probably not listening to me anyway.

**A/N: I know this chapter is shorter but I slept till noon, talked to the readers that will actually review to see what they thought of my plans, then I tried to start on the background research for my science fair project. The research is due in a week but it has to be 3-5 pages long. The whole thing that I haven't even started is due on the 18****th****. I'll keep trying to update but it probably won't be everyday once school starts back. I do reply to those who review because I have absolutely no like what so ever.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone that's been giving me advice on my story. I hope the reviews keep filtering in. Please tell me what I can do to make it better. I might not do what you suggest but it'll let me know why people don't like it so I can try to make it better. I know it's moving slow but it'll speed up, I promise.**

At breakfast Lavender was whispering and giggling with her friends while staring at me. I didn't really mind. Ice was in her bag, she'd already eaten breakfast before we came down to the Great Hall so I didn't have to worry about feeding her to keep her content. My first class was double transfiguration with McGonagall.

I left early to get to class. I didn't want to be late because that would attract attention, besides if I got there early I could start reading the text book. Normally I hated reading text books but I was here learning about magic, it had to be more interesting than regular school stuff. I settled Ice in my lap where she promptly fell asleep again. I opened the text book and started reading. I had twenty minutes before class started.

"Hello, Miss Ashburn. How are you today?" McGonagall asked when she walked into the room.

"Fine, Professor. You?" I answered looking up from my book.

"Equally fine. I heard you got into a slight argument with Miss Brown last night at the welcome feast. Something about a pet snake. Last time I checked you don't have a pet snake, but a pet dragon." McGonagall inquired.

I rolled my eyes. "She was asking why I was reaching food under the table. I couldn't very well tell her that I was feeding my pet dragon without her shouting it out to the world and spreading it around to those that didn't so I told her I had a very dangerous pet snake instead of a very dangerous pet dragon because looking at Ice you really couldn't tell she's dangerous. It wasn't really a lie because they're both reptiles."

McGonagall chuckled. "I guess a pet snake is more normal than a pet dragon. Do you have Ice with you? I don't see her"

"She's sleeping in my lap. I figure she'll do that maybe all the way through this class if I'm lucky." I told McGonagall.

"Well let's hope that she won't be too much of a distraction to or other students." The transfiguration professor told me with a smile. With that she went to prepare for the class before the other students started filtering in. None really paid too much attention to me, which was good considering I really didn't want them to.

"Good morning class." Professor McGonagall greeted us.

"Good morning Professor." The class said together in unison. McGonagall looked happy with our response.

"Today we will start with something simple…" She started her lecture and everyone started taking notes. It went well until she told us she actually wanted us to practice the wand movements. I got out my wand and Ice woke up. I petted her hoping she would go back to sleep but it seemed that she was up for good this time. I met McGonagall's gaze and flicked it to Ice in my lap. She didn't understand so I mouthed "Ice" to her. She suddenly understood my predicament.

I practiced the wand movements with one hand while I petted Ice with the other. She was getting curious about what was going on around her so she tried to poke her head up to see above the desk. I tried to help her without hurting her but she was very determined so she succeeded in getting her head above the desk to see what was going on. She tensed as soon as she saw all the people, then she started to squirm like she wanted to get out of there fast. She probably did. Luckily there was no one sitting beside me to notice a blue had sticking up above the desk. There were only ten minutes left in class and then I would be able to get Ice out of the classroom.

I had potions with Snape next and from what I'd heard about him from Hermione he was very intimidating (which I already knew from spending a couple hours shopping with him) and he kept his class quiet. It wasn't loud in the transfiguration room but it was far from silent. I could tell that McGonagall was flicking glances at me every chance she got. I was too busy trying to keep Ice relatively calm to notice when she walked up beside me, keeping a respectable distance so that she didn't freak Ice out even more of course. "Is she alright or do you need to be excused early?" McGonagall asked me quietly so that no one else heard.

"She's going to have to get used to it sometime. The sooner the better. There are only a couple more minutes of class she should be okay for then." I told McGonagall. Smiling my thanks to her for making sure Ice wasn't faring too badly.

McGonagall nodded and asked, "What class do you have next?"

"Potions. I'll probably sit in the back. Snape knows so he probably won't say anything." At least I hoped he took pity on me. McGonagall nodded her approval and walked off to help another student.

I sat in the back in all my classes after that. The teachers seemed okay with it. Snape didn't spare me a glance until he caught Ice poking her head above the desk, that seemed to jog his memory of the fact that I had a pet dragon that wasn't very comfortable around people. Strangers at least, she seemed to be doing just fine with Hermione. It was probably because I liked her.

Everything went fine until lunch. I sat by Hermione again, that meant I was sitting with most of the seventh years and Lavender Brown. She looked up when I sat down simply to sneer. I rolled my eyes at her and I swear she looked shocked that I would dare disrespect her. Hermione said hi before going back to her book. I didn't mind because I had divination and I wanted to read more on it. This seemed to have become my habit. Read up on the subject before the class.

"So, Allyssa is it? Is it true that Snape is your biological dad? Because I heard-" Lavender started.

"Seriously, think about it for a minute. Do I look anything like Snape?" I asked her not wanting to just deny it because she would think I was lying. She seemed to think about it for a minute. Before she could start spouting bullshit I interrupted. "When I said that my mom knew Snape I meant that she works with the US government and talked to Snape constantly so that she knew what to expect during the war so that the muggle government didn't interfere. Did you really think that muggles in other countries didn't notice that odd things were happening over here?"

Lavender looked shocked that I could talk about the war so lightly. I knew that the war over here killed a lot of people. "You know, my Won-Won almost died trying to kill You-know-Who." Lavender said stuffily.

I thought about how Hermione had described her relationship with Ron. She said that it had started after the war. "But you know, as I understand it he wasn't yours during the war, he was actually Hermione's, whom was actually tortured to death while Ron was held in the cellar." I'm not sure that Hermione wanted me to say that but it was out there already and I couldn't take it back. Lavender stared at me and I think Hermione was about to yell at me for saying that before she saw that I'd silenced Lavender for the second time in two days. "Good luck finding a comeback for that. I have to get to class." I said as I fed Ice one last piece of chicken before getting up.

"Wait, Allyssa. That was bloody amazing. How did you get from you and Snape to me, Ron and the war?" Hermione asked when she caught back up with me.

"She said 'her Won-Won' and I had to rub it in that he was yours before he was hers." I told her as I headed up to Divination.

Hermione gave a short laugh before asking, "Who do you have for Divination?"

"Trelawney." (A/N: I have no idea how to spell her name off the top of my head. If I'm spelling any of the HP names wrong please tell me how to spell them correctly.)

"Good luck." Was all she had to say about it.

**A/N**: I've come up with a solution for her being twelve! But I'm not telling unless you ask in a review. I've already told one person when they reviewed last chapter. I'm not making her older because I'm way too lazy. I had to post this chapter because I couldn't refrain from making Lavender look like a bitch (excuse my language if it offends you.) People have been saying that there's a really big age difference between Allyssa and Charlie. I'm aware of this. Does anyone know just how much older Charlie is than Ron and Hermione? Her being a lot younger than him is all part of how neither of them really wants to get married to each other.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

SIXTH YEAR

It was the first day of my sixth year. Hermione had written me over the summer saying that she was apprenticing under McGonagall this year. McGonagall was starting to show her age because there was no doubt that being the headmistress and transfiguration professor was hard. Over the years she had been called out of classes constantly when an unthinking professor sent an unruly student to the headmistress' office without realizing that she was teaching a class of her own. I'd missed Hermione over the years. She'd graduated top of her class during my first year, Ginny Weasely graduated the year after. They had been my only real friends. Sure I knew people but none of them were really my friends.

I'd turned into Hermione I guess. I was always ahead in all of my classes and other students came to me for help. I didn't answer all the questions in class, in fact I didn't raise my hand at all; I just let the teachers call on me at their discretion. They'd figured out that I knew the answers so they called on me more often than the other students without being obvious.

Just before the winter break of my first year Ice had finally gotten used to my classes and had established a routine. Bringing Ice home had been a shock to my parents because, unlike other students, it was kind of hard to owl my parents from across the Atlantic. My brothers went into a bit of a shock to say the least; considering they hadn't even known I was a witch no one was surprised. My younger brother had taken right to Sam. I hadn't figured it out yet but for some reason having Sam around to distract Ice made her calmer. Hermione came to help me get decorations for my room at Hogwarts. My older brother had checked her out and that had gotten him slapped from his girlfriend. Hermione just blushed and rushed up to my room.

I stepped into Hogwarts and was immediately tackled by Hermione. "It's been so long! How have you been? Where's Ice? How's Ice? Where's Sam? How's Sam?" Hermione bombarded me with questions.

"Can't breathe." I told her. I could breathe, a little, but not enough to answer all those questions.

"Sorry." Hermione said before releasing me. She then proceeded to levitate my trunks up to my room.

"It's fine. How have you been?" I asked her as we started up the stairs, following my luggage. Sam at our heals and Ice flying above our heads. Ice knew that she couldn't fly above me when the other students got here so she was going to while she could.

"Okay. I missed you and Ginny and everyone. I went to Tibet and saw some more dragons, Romania to see where Charlie used to work, and then I went to America to just get away from it all. Now I'm back." She made it sound so boring yet I knew she'd had a great time learning everything she did but she was probably really happy to get back to Hogwarts, it had become her home after her parents had died in the war, I knew that much. Just then Ice dived down, playing with us. Ice had grown and now instead of fitting comfortably in her bag she was a little cramped. I knew it wouldn't work for much longer. She only rode in it when we were walking between classes. Surprisingly few people actually knew that I had a pet dragon. She still didn't like going to DADA because Charlie was still teaching it. It might've been a while but Ice still remembered Hermione and I was glad because I'd asked her to stay in my room with me during her apprenticeship. She'd asked McGonagall and now we were going to be roommates. To my surprise the room had grown another bedroom and bathroom for Hermione so we could have our privacy.

We got to the room and Hermione said my password from the end of last year. The little girl in the portrait, Lucy, welcomed me back. Sam and her dog, Spot, barked at each other and Ice just waited patiently for the portrait door to open. I sometimes worried that Ice wanted a dragon companion but even if she did I couldn't do anything about it because dragons were hard to find and train and the school didn't really allow pet dragons in the school. "We need to set a new password." I told Hermione.

"What about . . . books?" Hermione suggested.

"Way too predictable for both of us." I told her thinking. "What about barn owl?" I don't know it popped into my head.

"Sure but where did you get that?" Hermione asked sitting on the couch in the common room I guess it was now.

I just shrugged as I sat down in the arm chair. "So what have you heard about what's going on here?" I always had to ask someone what was going on over here when I got back. Or I would ask Snape if he visited during the summer but he did that very rarely now it was odd because he hadn't visited at all over this summer break. He'd owled my mom a couple times but she wouldn't tell me what he'd said, she'd said that he'd ask her to keep it a secret from me and that he'd tell me once school resumed. It was all very odd.

"The ministry has been throwing around the idea of reinstating an ancient marriage law that say all muggle born witches and wizards ages 17-40 have to marry a pureblood or half-blood ages 17-40. The main controversy on it is the ministry assigns the couples as they see fit, everyone that isn't engaged on their seventeenth birthday." Hermione told me.

"That's terrible. Why would they do that?" I knew that pure-bloods had a prejudice against muggle-borns. Not as many did now but still quite a few did.

"With pure-bloods intermarrying the number of squibs has gone up. A lot of people died in the war and that's affecting the wizarding population too. So another component of the law is that the couple has to have a child by their third anniversary. Well, they have to at least be pregnant." Hermione told me with absolutely no emotion in her voice.

"Hermione, you said they were 'throwing the idea around' how close are they from actually making this a law?" I asked carefully.

"McGonagall and all the teachers are fighting it, along with muggle-borns all around. The problem is that the ministry isn't listening to what the people want but to what the numbers say and the numbers aren't good at all." Hermione evaded my question.

"How close Hermione?" I demanded.

"The last I heard they were putting the final touches on it. A couple weeks the minister should sign it and it will go into effect immediately." Hermione looked broken.

"Hermione, you know the minister himself why would he give you a bad match." I tried to talk sense into her.

"They'll start with me because of my social status. Without a doubt the pure-bloods will be able to influence the ministry in some way. Pure-bloods were the main followers of You-Know-Who." That explained why she was freaking out so much.

"Come on." I said standing up from my chair. "We are not going to sit around brooding. We are going to go for a walk around Hogwarts' beautiful grounds and let Ice stretch her wings before she had to stay cooped up until Hogsmeade weekends when everyone is gone." I pulled Hermione to her feet and clipped Sam's leash back to her collar. "Come on, Ice. We're going outside to enjoy the nice summer weather while we can."

We walked out into the hall and as we were walking out I turned to my portrait and said, "By the way Lucy, the new password is 'barn owl'."

As we walked back to the doors I had walked through not thirty minutes before we saw Charlie heading toward the headmistress' office. "Charlie!" Hermione called as she quickened her steps to meet him.

"Hello 'Mione. It's good to have you back. How have these last years been? You know we've all missed you." Charlie said as he gave her a hug. It was almost funny because Charlie was just about a whole foot taller than Hermione. Next to him she looked fragile but everyone knew that she was strong and if anyone didn't they were in for a big surprise and probably a good hexing.

"They've been good, Charlie. When I mentioned you in Romania they were all over me asking what you'd been up to. They told me quite a few stories of your time there that I don't think you ever want your mum to know." Hermione said, smiling up at him.

He groaned. "As long as you don't tell any of my siblings I might be safe. You haven't told them have you?"

Hermione laughed. "I came straight here after I got back from America. The only one I've talked to is Allyssa." Hermione told him.

"Speaking of your little American friend, did you know that she's taken over your role as school know-it-all? Snape doesn't hate her as much as he did you though because she doesn't raise her hand for every question." Charlie told her.

"Actually, I never raise my hand, in any class, Professor Weasely." I said from the foot of the stairs. Ice was circling above all of our heads and I swear I think Sam was going to get dizzy from watching her go around and around.

Charlie jumped. "Didn't see you there. Where are you two heading?"

"We're going for a walk around the grounds. Want to tag along?" I almost groaned out loud; obviously Hermione wasn't thinking because if Charlie tagged along then Ice would be tense and if she's tense then I have to watch her and not pay attention to anything else. Besides, the whole point in this walk was to relax.

"No thanks. I'm headed to the headmistress' office to talk to her about this letter I got from the ministry." When he said that he looked at me weird and it was very puzzling.

"Okay, maybe another time." Hermione told him as he continued walking toward his destination.

Hermione and I walked toward the doors and once we were outside I said to Hermione, "Just so that you know; Ice has never warmed up to Charlie. She's gotten comfortable enough in other classes but for some reason she really doesn't like him."

"That's really weird because in Romania I heard that all the dragons there automatically like Charlie, they'd never seen one that didn't like him." Hermione said with a puzzled frown as she watched Ice flying around above us.

I just shrugged and we walked in silence. I realized too late that I was letting Hermione lead me to the Quittitch (I know I spelled that wrong) pitch. Just as I realized it a person on a broom flew a little too close to Ice for her liking and I could tell she was scared. "Ice!" I yelled warningly but she had already started blowing fire and it hit the broom's tail. Luckily I had yelled it time to stop her from setting the whole broom and its rider ablaze.

She flew toward me and I caught her. She was trembling. "Hermione go make sure whoever that was is okay." I told her as I tried to comfort my pet. Just then we heard an outburst of, "Bloody Hell! Who the hell lets a dragon fly free?" (I can't type accents, sorry.) A voice yelled in a strange accent that I had never heard before. Hermione and I both ran over. She ran faster because I had to make sure that Sam could keep up and that I didn't startle Ice.

"Victor?" Hermione said as she saw the tall, muscled man with a buzz cut getting up from the ground.

"Hermione! Long time no see. Who the hell has a dragon around here?" He demanded.

I stepped out from behind Hermione and said, "I do. Sorry about that I should've realized we were so close to the quittich pitch." I apologized.

He looked confused so Hermione stepped in and said, "Victor this is Allyssa Ashburn, my friend. Allyssa this is Victor Krum." That was the only information I needed to know who he was; Bulgarian quittich player who came to Hogwarts during Hermione's fourth year because of the Tri-wizard Tournament. He was put under the Imperious Curse during the final challenge.

"Hi." I didn't offer my hand to shake because Ice was still in my arms.

"Are you apprenticing too?" He asked, he still looked confused.

"No, I'm a sixth year student." I answered.

"Then how do you know Hermione and why do you have a pet dragon?" I could tell he was going from confused to frustrated.

"I met Hermione in my first year, we've been friends since. Ice is a Tibetan Impression. In other words; once she chose me I had no choice but to take her as a pet. Surprising this is the first time she's done anything to injure anyone." I told him patiently. "She only did it to you because you startled her."

"Hmm. Why do you have her flying freely?" He asked.

"Once the other students get here she'll have to stay inside until Hogsmeade weekends when everyone is gone. I don't like the attention it would put on her so I keep her a secret. If she weren't to remain that way then people would constantly try to approach her and there would be a lot more incidents like yours, except most wouldn't be on a broom." I added hoping to lighten the mood.

Just then Charlie ran out, closely followed by McGonagall. "What's going on? We saw a broom catch fire and fall." Charlie said when he got to us. He looked at me strangely before turning back to the Bulgarian.

"I had a little run in with a little dragon. No one was injured." Victor said shortly.

"Run in with a dragon-" Charlie started before he looked at me again as if just realizing I was the girl who had a pet dragon. "Right. Miss Ashburn you really do need to control your unusual pet." Charlie scolded me.

"Professor, I assure it was a complete accident. Victor didn't see Ice flying and he got too close to her. She panicked. As you should know better than anyone, when a dragon is scared its first instinct is to attach. He wasn't injured. If I may remind you that this is the first accident involving Ice, so I would say that I've controlled my pet better than most would under the same circumstances." I countered. I knew arguing with a teacher wasn't polite but I had learned to control my 'unusual pet'.

"So you say you've learned to control your dragon?" Charlie challenged and I could tell what he was thinking by the way he stepped closer.

I took a step back before answering. "I may not have complete control but she has not harmed a student." I still had that record because technically Krum wasn't a student and hadn't been for some time.

He took another step closer and before he could respond Hermione said, "Charlie, leave her alone. She just got back. We both know how Ice will react if you threaten her." She seemed to have some affect on Charlie because took a step back and turned on his heal, starting back toward the castle.

"Miss Ashburn you have done better than anyone expected with training your pet. I know it's going to get harder as she grows. Are you sure you can't risk leaving her in your rooms while you attend classes?" McGonagall asked.

"I'm going to try to ease into it during this year." I told her.

"Good. Now I was going to ask to talk to you both before we were distracted. Please come with me." She said before following Charlie back to the castle.

"I'll see you later Victor." Hermione said before following McGonagall.

"It was nice to see you again and to meet your friend." Krum called after her.

Once we were a safe distance from the pitch I let Ice fly some more. She stuck closer this time. Once we walked into the castle she dropped onto Sam who had gotten bigger than I ever thought she would and could carry Ice with very little effort.

Hermione and I both had an idea about what McGonagall had to talk to us about but we didn't talk about it. We made our way to the headmistress' office in uncomfortable silence.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Hermione and I walked to the Headmistress' office in silence. The stairs were already down because she was expecting us. Hermione and I met each other's gaze before walking up the stairs. We were both thinking the same thing; marriage law.

The question was why the headmistress would want to talk to us about something that was affecting about a third of the school. Of course only about a seventh of that third were going to be effected by the marriage law this year.

When we walked into the Headmistress' office we were both surprised to see Professor Snape and Professor Weasley standing there with their arms across their chests looking very unhappy. "Thank you for joining us, girls." McGonagall said to us as we entered the room. Ice immediately went to sit on Fawkes perch with him. There was an amazing contrast between the bird's feathers and the young dragon's scales. "Now I'm sure you are both well aware of the fact that very soon the ministry will instate a marriage law that affects all unmarried people ages 17-40. You are both very bright witches and it would be a shame to see your talents go to waste. Miss Ashburn it would be very difficult to find someone that would be able to deal with you having a dragon as a pet, even if it small at the moment. Hermione very few people would agree with you staying at Hogwarts to teach because that would mean that they would have to live here as well. The other problem you will encounter is the few Death Eaters we have not been able to put in away in all these years because they are simply too powerful, even Death Eaters' children would be a danger to you yet if they were to pay the ministry enough they could get the ministry to force you to marry them. So, before that happens you'll need to find someone seeing as I have no solution to you.

"You, Miss Ashburn, are a different story. Charlie Weasley here is a pure-blood and more than willing to put up with your unusual pet." She held up here hand to stop me from bursting out. "I know there will be complications while you're a student and he is your professor but this really is the best match for you." McGonagall said in a motherly tone. Of core she thought this was the best path for me but why is it that no one has seemed to notice that Ice really doesn't like Professor Weasley? How could they not tell? Then again people not noticing Ice usually led me to the conclusion that they were unobservant fools and most were too caught up in their own lives to notice it but really who doesn't notice a dragon?

Okay, I'm going to say this calmly, I promised myself. "Yes, Professor Weasley might not mind the fact that I have a pet dragon but everyone seems to forget that Ice has very human emotions, I would know considering we share most of them. Except one; she never has seemed to have gotten over him trying to touch on the first day we came here. I have no idea, it's not a projection of any emotion I harbor I assure you. This would be a very big deal considering the . . . rules of this law." I decided to not let myself think about that. "Why is Professor Snape here?"

"He is here as your legal guardian in the absence of your parents. He can't force you to take any action you do not wish to take but he can choose who thinks is best and try to persuade you to take that plan of action." McGonagall informed me.

I turned to Snape. "Do my parents even know of this law? Is that what you were owling my mom about all summer that she wouldn't tell me about? You know it would be nice if I had had some forewarning of this besides Hermione hesitantly telling me about it at my insistence."

"Yes, your parents know about this through the letters I exchanged with your mother over the summer. It was her decision not to tell you about it because she wanted you to enjoy your summer before you started to worry about all of this." Snape explained.

"And what are your thoughts on the matter? Was this discussed with my parents before being proposed to me?" (Pun accidental but intended, if that makes sense)

Snape paused before answering. "Your mother thought about it reasonably and decided that if he could take care of you and wouldn't make you miserable she would agree to this. She knows your level of maturity and that it was very unlikely someone your age would interest you, granted she hoped that someone closer to your age would suffice and that you wouldn't have to marry quite so young." Snape took a deep breath before continuing. "Your father on the other hand was furious that anyone would even talk about his little girl marrying at such a young age and to her professor no less."

I wasn't surprised by my father's reaction but I did have to marry and I hoped he would respect that I was forced into a decision. I wasn't sure of what I was going to do yet but hearing my mother's thoughts helped, knowing she supported me. I thought about my brothers. My older brother, Quinn, had always joked that I had a boyfriend I was hiding from everyone. My younger brother, Nate, probably couldn't imagine me having a boyfriend. Quinn had had a girlfriend for years but I'm pretty sure he just saw it as his brother have a friend that was a girl. I didn't know what to think their reactions might be if someone told them that I was being forced to marry within the next year and one of my options was one of my professor's. I looked at the man in question. He was attractive, there was no doubt about that; he was the most crushed on teacher. I thought about what I knew about him; there wasn't much. I knew his youngest brother had dated Hermione and had cheated on her with Lavender. His sister Ginny had been my best friend after Hermione left. I knew he had twin brothers that had a joke shop in Diagon Alley. I knew he'd been a dragon trainer in Romania before taking the DADA position at Hogwarts, at the nagging of his mother and McGonagall. I knew few facts and absolutely nothing else about him. I met his gaze and asked, "What do you think?"

He looked surprised that I'd bothered to ask. "I would be able to protect you and I wouldn't treat you bad.-" I cut him off before he could continue. "I don't want to know what you would or would not do. I want to know your opinion of the whole situation." He seemed to have to think about it for a moment before saying, "This would seem to work out for both of us; you get to marry someone who isn't a complete idiot and so do I. I know you're very smart and don't like attention, frankly neither do I. This would cause problems for the both of us but it's better than a lot of things that could happen."

I thought about it. Yes, many things would be worse but I didn't particularly want to marry someone I knew next to nothing about. We would have to get to know each other before I made any decision. "I will make the decision before the beginning of term. Professor would you mind going on a walk with me since my other attempt was interrupted?"

Everyone in the room looked surprised by how calm I sounded. Charlie nodded and stepped away from the wall. Ice flew off her perch next to Fawkes and landed gracefully on my shoulder. I walked down the staircase from the Headmistress' office and started walking back toward the doors that lead to the outside. It didn't take much for Charlie to catch up with me considering he had longer legs. We walked in silence until we were outside. I let Sam off her leash for a bit so she could run around and possibly distract Ice who still didn't move from her perch on my shoulder.

"Go play with Sam; you know you won't get much of a chance for a while." I told her. She seemed to be torn. She kept glancing between Charlie and Sam. "Go." I urged my pet again. With one last look at Charlie she took off to play with her companion. I sighed in relief.

"She really is growing into a beautiful dragon," Charlie remarked idyll.

"Yes, she has. I'm glad she learned to tolerate the other students, otherwise I think it would've been unpleasant for everyone, involved and not." I told him.

Charlie chuckled, "Yeah." His expression sobered. "Why did you ask me to come out here with you?"

I sighed. "It's one thing to marry someone older than you, it's another to marry your professor but the biggest thing is marrying someone you know nothing about." I told him, watching my pets play.

"That's true. What do you want to know?"

"Why did you go to Romania to be a dragon trainer?" It was the easiest question and one he'd probably been asked a lot.

"My dad took me to Romania for something when I was about your age and we stopped to see the dragon reserve. I was fascinated from the start. When we got back I read every book I could find on dragons. I even decorated my room at home with dragons flying on the ceiling. Drove my brother Bill crazy when they would be shooting fire at each other while he was trying to sleep. I applied to a couple different reserves right after graduation. The one in Romania was predicted to be growing but not really rapidly so they accepted me. I trained for the first three years I was there. Yeah, it was hard work but it was worth it because I was following my dream. Mum was murderous from the start when she found out I wanted to pursue a carrier in dragons, that made it all the more fun of course." His emotions flitted across his face and mostly they were happy.

"If you it was your dream to train dragons, why come back here and teach?" It didn't make sense. If he wanted to work with dragons and didn't care what anyone else thought why come back here and teach because your mother nagged you if she disapproved of the dragons in the first place and that didn't stop him?

"My mum can be very persistent when something is important to her. I came home this summer after the war to help my family deal with our losses. I didn't think she could handle it if I left again after she'd lost so many loved ones in the war, so when she started nagging me about the Defense position I was hesitant because I didn't think I'd be any good at teaching but they convinced me to give it a try and I found that I liked teaching." Charlie wouldn't look at me for some reason, probably because he was embarrassed that he let his mom make this decision for him.

"Okay, I don't want you to feel like I'm interrogating you so now that I've asked two questions you get to ask two questions." In truth I just wanted time to think over what he'd told me.

"How does your mum know Snape?" Charlie asked right off the bat.

"During the war someone from the Order of the Phoenix came to her and explained everything that was going on with the war because the US radars were picking up strange things and they were getting anxious so it was her job to make up excuses to make sure they didn't do anything stupid in that respect. She talked a lot with Snape so that she knew what was going on; I think he also told her his secrets so that he didn't explode from keeping so much to himself, especially after Dumbledore died. After the war ending they continued on with their budding friendship. He'd come over for dinner during breaks in the school year. He came over on holidays too because he doesn't have any other family and he hates staying at the school during the holidays or going home to the depressing house he grew up in. When I accidently silenced my older brother on my twelfth birthday my mom knew immediately what was going on. She asked Snape if I could go to Hogwarts and if he would look after me while I was there. He agreed. Now he's like the British uncle I don't have." I actually did have a real uncle somewhere in the United Kingdom that I'd never met and my mom doesn't really like him. I'd finally told someone the whole truth about how my mom knew Snape. During my first year there had been a rumor going around that I was actually Snape's daughter. I honestly didn't know how they believed it because I look nothing like Snape; I knew Lavender Brown started it though.

"Hmm. Who started the rumor in your first year that you were Snape's daughter?" Charlie asked.

"Lavender Brown, for some reason she was always a bitch to me. Then again I was a bitch right back so I didn't mind. She's dating your younger brother, isn't she?" I asked after I thought about it for a moment.

"Sadly, she is. Has been since the end of the war pretty much. I still can't believe that Ron chose her over Hermione. Her voice and laugh just grate on my nerves. Luckily, she'll never be my sister because of the Marriage Law." Charlie said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I knew from the beginning that Lavender was going to be an annoying chit. As soon as Ice heard her voice she was tense. She was the one person I actually wanted to let Ice have her way with. Why can't she and Ron get married?"

"Lavender is a pure-blood too. Is there anyone else besides me that Ice really doesn't like for no reason?" Charlie asked.

"At the beginning she didn't like Draco Malfoy but she got used to him. She was probably just picking up on Hermione's past dislike of him. After that she didn't want to fry him, she's never gotten completely comfortable with anyone except me, your sister and Hermione." I told him.

"That's probably because you're not really comfortable with anyone except Hermione and Ginny. Why don't you have more friends?" Charlie asked.

I sent him a glare before I shrugged. "I'm a naturally unsocial. So I don't really mind. There aren't any kids in my year that understand or are mature enough to actually talk to."

"Don't you get lonely not talking to anyone?" Charlie asked.

I sighed. "It isn't that I don't talk to people; I'll talk to people in my classes about homework and class. I said that don't really have any close friends except Hermione and Ginny, not that I don't talk to anyone."

"Sorry, I never see you talking to anyone at meals and you have your own rooms so you don't hang out in the common room." Charlie defended.

"It's fine. This might sound strange; how many siblings do you have?" He'd mentioned Bill and I knew about the twins and Ron and Ginny, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anyone.

Charlie gave a laugh. "It's a big family; Weasley families always are. There's Bill my older brother who's married to Fleur, the French princess. Me the dragon trainer. Fred and George are the twins that run the joke shop in Diagon Alley. Ron the idiot who gave up Hermione for some stupid annoying chit that no one really like except for him and then there's Ginny who you already know."

"So seven children. Wow. I almost feel sorry for Ginny with six older brothers and I feel over whelmed with two brothers." I said pretty much to myself.

"Tell me about your family." Charlie said.

"Well, as you already know my mom works for the government. My dad works with field equipment, like mixing it and stuff. My older brother just went into medical school to become a doctor, I'm here and my little brother just started middle school." There wasn't really much to tell about my family.

"Is your older brother protective?" He actually looked worried that the answer to the question would be yes.

"I don't know. I've never had a boyfriend before and I have no idea how he's going to respond to me getting married; it might be grudging acceptance and it might be something worse. I really have no way to know." I think Charlie actually sighed in relief.

"So you've never . . . .? Umm." Charlie was blushing and I'm pretty sure it was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen.

"No, I haven't. Not even gotten close." I'm pretty sure he was talking about sex and considering that I'd just told him that I'd never had a boyfriend he should know the answer to that.

"Okay, then. We should probably head back in." Charlie suggested.

"Yeah." I said as I gave him one last look. "Sam, Ice! We're going back!" I yelled to my pets before Charlie and I started our walk back to the school in companionable silence. Both thinking about what we'd learned about the other.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

When we got to the doors we each went our own way; he went to his rooms by the defense classroom and I went to the rooms I now shared with Hermione. After playing with Sam Ice seemed quite calm so she wasn't totally against Charlie walking with me.

"Hermione, where are you?" I called when I entered the sitting room and didn't see her there.

"I'm in my room." She called back but her voice didn't seem quite right.

I rushed up to her room to see her lying face down on her bed. Her shoulders were shaking with sobs and Crookshanks was curled up next to her. "Are you okay? What happened?" I asked her as I sat down on the edge of her bed.

"They said that Ron would be a good match for me!" She yelled into the bed.

"The dense dunderheads; what shall we do with them? Hermione no one can force you to marry Ron." She looked like she was going to correct so I rephrased that, "Okay, I guess someone can force you to marry Ron but it isn't going to happen. We're going to make a list of all the eligible pure-bloods that you can stand, okay? And then you can choose from that, if you aren't happy with that then we'll think of something else, sound good?" It probably didn't sound like the plan of attack but it was all I could think of. Muggleborns had to marry and the ministry wasn't going to like it if the great Hermione Granger married a half-blood.

"Okay, if I don't like any of the prospects then I could always move on to half-bloods." Hermione's mood seemed to be rising. She flipped onto her back and looked at me for the first time. Something seemed to click and she suddenly asked, "How did it go with Charlie?"

"It was fine. I wanted to get to know each other because marry someone I know next to nothing about has no appeal what's so ever. Like I said to him, 'it's one thing to marry someone older, it's another to marry your professor but it's something completely different to marry someone you don't know.' Well, it was something along those lines."

Hermione laughed. "Yes, well I totally agree with you. I'm just glad the ministry isn't picking all the marriages. I wonder how they decide which they want to interfere in."

"Probably the ones where they think someone is in danger or the ones that they get bribed to make so you'd better get at least one ring fast because quite a few people would pay through the nose to get you." I half joked because we both knew it was true that some of the Death Eaters really were still out there and living prominently. "Besides, if you wait too long all the good guys will get taken."

"I think McGonagall was right in saying that Charlie would be a good match for you. He'll take good care of you and let you follow your dreams." Hermione said seriously.

"Hermione, I don't even know what my dreams are. I don't have anything planned after next year and you know that. You knew that after the war ended you wanted to travel and then come back to Hogwarts and teach. I have no clue what I want to do. I couldn't teach because I don't have a deep interest in anything other than animals and I couldn't take that post because …. Well, there's a reason I can't take that post and it's probably because I'd be like Hagrid and bring out the interesting yet dangerous animals and then show people that I can take care of them so they think that they aren't dangerous at all." I hadn't really thought about teaching before but if I married Charlie and he kept the position here at Hogwarts the most logical thing for me to do would be teach here too.

"You could ask Hilda Igora if you could run the branch of her pet shop in Hogsmeade." Hermione suggested.

"She has a branch in Hogsmeade?" I rarely went to Hogsmeade unless I actually needed something because that was one of the few times there was a smaller chance that Ice would be seen when she went out to fly. Hilda and I actually owled constantly; talking about Ice and Sam and how everything was turning out. She thought it was funny how I kept Ice in a bag during classes. We talked about the animals in her store. She actually asked if I would take care of one of her new puppies because it was the runt over holiday but I had to decline considering I was going home and I didn't think my parents would appreciate another pet of mine even for a short period of time, plus I knew I'd fall in love with it and want to keep it.

"Yeah she does, it opened a couple years ago but it's nowhere near as big as the one in Diagon Alley. If you were to run I'm sure that the pets in Hogwarts would be happier because many students don't stock enough of their pets' favorite food for it to last till holiday so they have to settle for whatever they can find in the branch." Hermione told me. "Plus you could learn how to be an animal healer and come to Hogwarts whenever a pet is injured or sick."

I smiled at Hermione. "That sounds amazing. You always have the best plans for everything."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "So how come I have no plan what's so ever about who I'm going to marry?"

"It'll come to you." I said confidently.

Sadly, it didn't come that night. We spent hours thinking of every pure-blood we knew but Hermione just wasn't satisfied. We ate in our rooms and went to bad about midnight.

"Allyssa, wake up. You're going to be late for breakfast and there's a letter here from Charlie." Hermione told me as she shook me awake.

"I'm awake, Hermione, I'm awake. Give me the letter and maybe it'll actually help me be even more awake, surprises always do that." I said as I grudging sat up in bed. Sometimes people forget that there's actually a time difference between the US and Hogwarts and that it takes a while to adjust back and forth. Ice flew the letter over to me. "Thank you, Ice." I carefully broke the seal on the envelope and unfolded the letter within.

_Dear Miss Ashburn,_

_ I've been thinking about how you said you'd have your decision by the beginning of term. I think it would be best that if you so choose to follow through with Professor McGonagall's plan we'd better be married by the beginning of term so that no one suspects anything like they would if you were to have the wedding in the middle of term. Your thoughts?_

_ Yours,_

_ Charlie_

He's thinking about the actual wedding already. That probably wasn't a good thing. Well, it meant that he was willing to do marry me. He was right in thinking that I didn't want to draw attention or suspicion to myself because of all of this but having only today to decide and then getting married the next seemed a little rushed. I climbed out of bed and walked over to my desk. I grabbed a sheet of parchment and wrote my response.

_-Charlie_

_ I see where you're coming from but would it be terrible if we waited? I'll make the decision by the beginning of term and then we sign papers or whatever that say we're engaged and then don't get married until the winter holidays. That way on some Hogsmeade weekend we could go and meet each other's parents. Not the most fun thing to do in the world but we'll have to do it eventually and we should probably do it before we get married so that our parents can actually attend. I don't want a big wedding by far but I would like for my family to be there if they approve. If they don't approve we still have to go through with it though. Any objections?_

_ -Allyssa_

"Ice could you take this to the Defense room? I know you don't like going there but it's really important." She grudgingly took the letter and left my room. Lucy knew to open her portrait to let Ice out if she needs out.

I took a shower and got dressed. By the time I was done getting ready for the day not only had Ice returned but Charlie was sitting in the living room with Sam staring at him. He looked uncomfortable so I threw a ball to distract Sam, it worked. "Hey, what're you doing here?" I asked him as I sat in the arm chair.

"I figured this was easier than sending letters back and forth. Hermione let me in." He looked really uncomfortable.

"Okay." This was going to take forever if he didn't start talking soon. Ice flew in and landed on my lap. I stroked her neck absently.

"Umm. What if we were to go meet parents today?" Charlie suggested.

"I have things to do before term starts and I'm assuming you do too. Why is it that you want to rush into this?" Him wanting to get this over with was throwing me off.

Charlie sighed and sagged back into the couch. "My mum's going to try and pair me up soon, more so because of the law. She's been trying to do it for ages and with the law she just has another excuse."

"So tell her McGonagall's set you up with someone and that we'll visit soon. We both know that if you get McGonagall involved not many people will go against it." It was the truth too.

He tilted his head as if in thought before running his hand through his hair. On anyone else it would make it seem like they needed a hair cut really bad but it actually looked good on him. "That would work but she'll probably come and storm the halls anyway and get Minerva to back up my story, so you'll end up meeting my mum at least sooner rather than later."

I shrugged. "I'm leaning toward yes but I still don't want to have the wedding the day before term starts because the prefects will be here and they can gossip just as much as any other students even if we tell them to keep it under wraps. If your mom comes so be it, it won't be catastrophic. Snape will probably go tell my mom in person that I'm thinking about it."

"Okay, then. Beware though, my mum will want to take over the wedding and make into a big thing; she did with Bill's." Charlie warned.

"I think I can handle that. I'm not having a big wedding no matter what your mother tries to do." I told him.

Just then Hermione came in and said, "If anyone can stop Molly Weasley from making a big deal out of a wedding it's Allyssa Ashburn; she's more stubborn, creative and resilient than the twins combined. On the last straw she'll probably threaten to elope or say she wants her mom to plan it."

I rolled my eyes. "We both know that my mom does not want to plan a wedding." Then I thought about it. "That's a good idea because if my mom plans it it won't turn into a big deal at all." I smiled. "Or I could just say that she can plan it but Snape has to help because he's acting guardian to me while I'm in school." Both Hermione and I broke out into laughter at the thought of Snape planning a wedding, at the end there probably wouldn't be a wedding at all.

"Well, since we have that settle I have to go do lesson plans up until the winter holidays." Charlie said as he stood up and walked to the portrait hole.

"Okay, Hermione and I have to go down and eat breakfast." I said standing up as well.

"No, I don't. You're the one that got up late." Hermione corrected sitting on the couch Charlie had just been sitting on.

"Fine, then I'll just have Dobby or someone bring me some food to eat while I study." I said with a sigh. I probably wouldn't eat breakfast this morning because time zones don't only mess with your sleeping schedule but your eating schedule too. I'd probably be craving a lot of midnight snacks for the next few days.

CPOV

I absently walked back to my rooms from Allyssa and Hermione's. I still couldn't believe that Minerva wanted me to marry one of my students. I'd known her for five years already but I still knew next to nothing about her even after our little conversation yesterday. She was right that marrying someone you didn't know was a lot different than a mere age difference.

She really was a bright and mature witch and from what I'd seen in of her in my class over the years she was very powerful too. Just how powerful she was had yet to be seen though. Her damn dragon just didn't like me and I could see that that was making her hesitate. She trusted her pet because they were bonded. She might be right in saying that the dragon still held a grudge from me scaring her all those years ago. I stopped dead in my tracks as I thought about that meeting with Allyssa. She didn't hate me because I'd tried to touch her she hated me because Allyssa had called me an idiot for taking a risk like that. Thinking back on it now it really had been stupid; I should've been paying more attention to the body language of the small dragon rather than thinking about her mistress. Not that I was thinking about Allyssa in an inappropriate way but I was admiring how well she'd adjusted to the fact that she know had a pet dragon and that she knew it would attract attention. She'd done a marvelous job of not attracting attention through the years; she could probably count exactly how many people knew about her unusual pet on one hand. What had surprised me even more that day was how in tune she already was with her new pet, she'd known exactly when to stop me from going any farther because she could already sense her dragons emotions.

She really was truly remarkable. She'd grown into a beautiful young woman over the last couple years too. Not many people noticed because she didn't like being noticed for anything so she wore loose robes and on the weekends she always wore loose muggle clothing but this morning I had noticed, as well as yesterday during our walk. It was strange to watch her move because she had an almost feline grace that was almost disconcerting, yet I knew from seeing her in class that she was also somewhat of a klutz. It was going to be interesting getting to know my young bride.

**A/N: I got Charlie's Point of View in there because a couple people have said that they would like to read it. Thanks to everyone that has been reviewing. How many people can't wait to see Allyssa and Mrs. Weasley face off? I still haven't really started my experiment for the science fair and it's due on the 18****th**** how sad it that?**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

The welcoming feast came and went and then it was time for classes. I had DADA first. I wasn't sure why I was slightly worried. It wasn't like we were already married. It would definitely be awkward after we were married because we had consummate the marriage or else someone could challenge it and get it annulled. I was actually worried about meeting his family. It was a big family and if they were like Charlie then they could be very intimidating. I'd heard Hermione talking about Ron and she didn't say anything flattering about him. Ginny was awesome but she had a bit of a temper that her red hair only hints at. You definitely didn't want to get on her bad side.

As I walking toward the defense classroom Fawkes flew above me for a moment before landing in front of me. "Hello, have something for me there?" In response Fawkes just lifted his leg with a letter from McGonagall on it. I quickly untied the letter and stroked Fawkes' head a few times before he flew off. I opened the letter carefully. It was short and terse.

_Molly Weasley is here and wants to meet you immediately, I told her you were in class but she insists. Please come soon before she comes looking for you; that would be very bad indeed._

_ Hurry,_

_ Minerva McGonagall_

I shut my eyes tightly for a moment before opening them and looking back at the letter from the headmistress that I held in my hands. I took a deep breath and continued on my way to the defense classroom. There were several students already in the room but they were still talking amongst themselves so they didn't notice me walk in. I walked up to Charlie's desk. When my shadow fell across the paper he was writing on he looked up in surprise. Without a word I handed him the letter McGonagall had sent Fawkes to give me. He read it quickly; his eyes widening in fright or disbelief but most likely a combination of both.

He stood up immediately, gearing to go straight to the headmistress' office and talk to his mom about coming to the school and interrupting class. I caught his arm and looked pointedly at the amount of students that had filtered in as he read the letter. I heard him curse briefly under his breath. "Everyone read chapters one and two. I want an essay on both on my desk by the end of the period." He said to the class before walking toward the door briskly.

I walked out of the room as well, slower than Charlie because my legs weren't as long as his and because I didn't actually want to do this right now so putting it off for as long as possible even if it was only a few minutes seemed like a great idea. Suddenly I saw Charlie stop and look around him. "Miss Ashburn?" He questioned.

"Yes?" I said from behind him.

He whirled around to face me. "Hurry up. The longer she simmers the worse it will get." He warned me.

I tilted my head and looked at him. "Are you scared of your mother?" I asked curiously.

"You would be too if you'd met her." Charlie said as he continued his brisk pace to the headmistress' office. "Why are you so far behind?"

"If I were to try and keep up with you at that pace I'd practically be running and that's not a good idea when you have a sleeping dragon hanging from your shoulder. Trust me; I was almost late for potions once so I was running while Ice was asleep. It was a good thing that particular corridor was disserted because would've been frozen. It's very odd; Ice doesn't breathe fire very often but when she gets scared she normally spews her name sake." I said as I continued to walk at my leisurely pace.

"Fascinating maybe we could talk about it after we get this particular meting over with?" Charlie suggested through clenched teeth.

I shrugged. "I don't particularly care if we talk about it at all. It's just something I've noticed. That's why I was very surprised when she actually shot fire at Krum instead of freezing his broom; though I'm not sure which one would've been safer for him."

"Come on already." Charlie said as I reached the end of his patience. He grabbed my elbow and dragged me down the hall toward our destination.

I felt Ice stirring in her pouch. "Professor, let go." I said calmly.

"No, you were walking too slowly. We actually need to get this over with before class ends so that the students don't get too suspicious."

"You really need to let go. Now would be nice." I tried to keep my voice calm but I was actually growing agitated and that wasn't good because ice already didn't like Charlie so if I was the least big agitated at him then she wouldn't hesitate to do something about it.

Luckily, before Ice fully woke up we arrived at the statue leading to the headmistress' office and Charlie let go of my arm. I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt Ice start to relax back into sleep once again. The statue immediately showed the spiral staircase when we arrived. He motioned for me to go up first.

I stepped on the ascending staircase and rode up. I knocked on the door to the headmistress' office and heard McGonagall tell me to come in. I slowly opened the door to see McGonagall standing by the chair behind her desk and a woman with red hair standing way too close to the door.

The red haired woman whirled around to face me and she said, "Hello, dear. You must be Miss Ashburn that Professor McGonagall has refrained from telling me about."

"Allyssa Ashburn." I said simply.

"Hello, Mum." Charlie said as he walked in behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders. I stifled the urge to turn around and glare at him, instead I subtly moved away. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I came to meet the wife I had to here you were marrying through Minerva. Charlie how dare you? You couldn't even write a measly letter to tell your mother that you were seeing someone." Mrs. Weasley seemed on the verge of tears.

I glanced at the headmistress who looked just as shocked as the rest of us. So she hadn't told her that we were doing this for any reason other than the marriage law so where did she get that impression? "Excuse me, Mrs. Weasley but I'm sure he would've written to you had he actually been seeing someone. In this case he is not." I was trying to be calm.

"Oh, dear. The marriage law has something to do with this doesn't it? Terrible law if you ask me; forcing people to get married like that." Was she really that dense?

"Yes, Mum terrible law. That's why Minerva has asked me to save Miss Ashburn from it." Charlie said soothingly.

She turned to me and started to walk closer. "Poor dear. I'm here to help with the wedding. Of course there are tons to do, so we must start now." She looked like she was going to hug me so I quickly took a step back. She looked confused at my behavior so she turned back to her son. "Now you can go and leave us girls to start the planning."

"I don't think so. He's not the only one missing class here, so I really do need to get back. The planning does not – and will not- start now. The wedding isn't until winter break." I tried to move passed her to the door but she wouldn't let me.

"No, dear, I do believe that we should start the planning now. We all know what a big event weddings are." Mrs. Weasley said, her eyes glazing over.

"Actually I don't want a big wedding. Considering that this is all being caused by the stupid law I don't think it would be appropriate." I tried to saw calmly. There was something about this woman that really annoyed me.

"Dear, you only get married once so you need something everyone's going to remember." She tried to convince me.

"Actually, I don't. As far as I'm concerned I don't want anyone but family there and I don't want anyone in the school to hear about it. Have you even considered that some people would be very upset if they heard that I teacher had married one of their students? I do believe that most would be furious, regardless of the marriage law. I wouldn't want to make things harder for Professor Weasley or Professor McGonagall." I really hoped she'd drop it because I needed to get out of here before I got so upset that I woke Ice up because that wouldn't be good at all.

"Dear, I'm sure everyone would understand." Mrs. Weasley told me.

"I don't care if they would understand or not. I don't want that kind of attention. I don't want to draw attention to it at all. And stop calling me dear, I'm not your child nor do I know you." I was starting to get pissed.

She gasped. "Miss Ashburn, how dare you. I won't be insulted. Charlie, control your woman."

I bristled. "Last time I checked I said nothing to insult you, Mrs. Weasley. I simply said that I don't like being called 'dear' by a complete stranger and that I don't want a big wedding that will draw attention. I fail to see how that is insulting in anyway. And I am not your sons 'woman' by any means. I am my own person and if he fails to see that then he will end up in a world of hurt that I have no control over." Charlie understood by sentence but his mother didn't.

"Are you threatening my son? How dare you." She turned toward her son. "I will not allow you to marry this-this insufferable girl."

That was when Snape walked in, acting as my guardian I assumed. "Mrs. Weasley is there a problem?" He asked silkily.

"Yes, this girl is treating me with complete disrespect. I thought Hogwarts taught their students manners." Obviously she was hoping that Snape would come to her aid.

"I find that hard to believe. As far as I know, Miss Ashburn hasn't received a single detention in her first five years of schooling here at Hogwarts." Why did everyone find that so surprising? I know lots of people got detentions easily, especially from Snape, but certainly I'm not the only person who hasn't gotten one.

"She threatened my son!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.

I felt movement in the bag hanging from my shoulder. _Shit_, I thought._ Ice this is a really bad time for you to wake up, so go back to sleep._ I tried to calm myself. Snape raised an eyebrow in my direction. "I simply told her that if her son fails to see me as my own person he will be in a world of hurt that I'll have no control over."

Snape chuckled because he knew what I was talking about. "Here I thought you'd learned to control that."

"Most of the time but at the moment I'm having doubts." I told him hoping he'd get me out of this. His eyes widened and his gaze flew to the bag by my hip. McGonagall looked exhausted and out of place.

"Mrs. Weasley I assure you. If your son were to do something unforgiveable to Miss Ashburn that she would have no control over his fate. One reason being because she is my responsibility while here at school and I've come to admire her for different reasons." Snape probably scared Mrs. Weasley more with that one sentence than a lot of other people could've with their wands drawn. "Now I do believe that the four of us have classes to get back to. If you would show yourself out I'm sure Professor McGonagall would be very grateful."

"Of course, sorry to interrupt everyone's day. If I may just have a word with my son and his future bride?" She asked sweetly. Snape looked hesitant; his eyes were still on the bag near my hip where you could see Ice shifting. I put my hand inside the bag and started to sooth my pet. I nodded to him saying that I would be fine. With a glance at Mrs. Weasley he left the room, McGonagall following close behind. "At least now I know where you learned to be so rude." Mrs. Weasley sneered after the door closed behind the two professors.

My jaw tightened and I could feel my hand moving toward my wand. "If all you're going to do is insult me; I really do have a class to get back to." I fought to keep my voice emotionless.

"No, I kept you here to issue a warning; you will in no way control my son and keep him from his family. He's been away from us long enough without a bitch like you interfering now that we've finally gotten him back."

I was nearing my snapping point. "I have no desire to control your son and keep him from his family as long as he doesn't insist I come a long. I don't want control every part of my family's life unlike you obviously try to do." With that I simply walked out of the room leaving mother and son to talk all the wanted. I started heading toward the Defense classroom but decided against it. I didn't want to go and face a room full of my peers after all that so I decided I need to cool off and there was no better place to do that then a walk outside with Ice flying close by.

CPOV

I looked at my mother in disbelief I'd never known her to be so ….. so hateful. She was always cheery unless you did something stupid and made her mad. Allyssa voicing her opinion about the wedding shouldn't have made her that mad. "Mum, what the hell?" I asked simply.

She turned toward me with a sweet smile on her face. "Darling, I came to make sure you were marrying someone who could make you happy and now I see that I made the right choice in coming here today because it's obvious that she can't. She'll make you absolutely miserable."

"I don't think you should've come here. You insulted my future wife and she did absolutely nothing to provoke you so don't even try to tell me that he insulted you because I was standing here the whole time."

"Charlie there is no way you're marrying her. She won't listen to reason; you know how I hate it when people don't listen to reason." Mum said to me, shock evident on her face.

"You weren't trying to reason with her; you were trying force your own opinions on her, there's a difference. She told you that she didn't want a big wedding, to tell you the truth I don't either." I was still fuming and it was even worse because I was feeling guilty for not interfering.

"She threatened you!" I really hated it when she started shrieking at me.

"No, she was telling the truth. I know exactly what she was talking about even if you don't. It wasn't a threat but a warning to both me and you." Now I was feeling really guilty because I hadn't even thought about Ice. "Now, I do believe you should leave. We might be coming home some time before the holidays so that All- Miss Ashburn can meet the rest of the family. If we do come; try to be civil." I left my mother in the headmistress' office. I jogged through the halls trying to find Allyssa because I highly doubted that she would go back to class after all that. I walked by her rooms and asked the girl in the portrait if Allyssa was in there but she said no.

She wouldn't go to the library because she wasn't Hermione. It hit me anew then how little I knew about the woman that was going to be my wife. I started walking aimlessly. I looked outside the window to see the familiar shape of a blue dragon flying through the sky. I started running toward it, even knowing that Ice probably didn't want to see me very much right now; even less than she normally did. "Miss Ashburn!" I yelled when I could see her.

She lifted her head to look at me before looking back down at the ground, but she stopped walking. When I got close enough she said, "You might as well call me Allyssa." Before she started walking again.

"Allyssa, I'm really sorry about how that turned out. I know it wasn't your fault and I'm sorry I didn't interfere." I said hesitantly hoping that apologizing would be enough.

She just shook her head. "No, you didn't need to interfere; I can fight my own battles. True, I'd hoped that it wouldn't turn into a battle but I don't want to pit you against your family."

"I don't think anyone else will react that badly. Bill will understand. The twins will joke because that's what they do. Ron might react badly if he hears mum doesn't approve just because he's a git like that and Ginny will be happy to have another girl in the family besides Lavender and the French Princess." I didn't really count Ron's reaction because he was just kissing mum's ass.

She smiled a little. "Well then I don't think I have to worry that much about anyone else. I already think poorly of Ron because of what he did to Hermione and I doubt anything will be able to change that. I couldn't tell you how my family will react because I honestly don't know."

"We'll deal with that when we get to it. Don't you think we should get to class now?" I suggested.

"You can go. I'm going to stay out here for a little bit longer. I don't think Ice could deal with people right now; she's not completely calm yet. Being pissed really is a terrible way to wake up from your morning nap."

Yeah,_ Ice _was the one that wasn't ready to face people. "Okay, I guess I'll talk to you later."

I didn't get a reply as I walked back to the castle.

**A/N: That didn't turn out as I thought it would but a lot of things don't. I guess you can call the Molly Weasley bashing but she was really OOC. Sorry about that. I have a surprise in the next chapter whenever I get around to writing it. I've been experiencing writer's block, it probably has something to do with feeling guilty about all the work for school I haven't done yet. Mostly science related. On the bright side I think I'm going to get all A's except in science. That includes the double advanced math class I'm taking so I'm happy. Please Review I love hearing back from people and I almost always respond unless there really isn't anything to respond to.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

I thought about the fight I'd gotten in with Charlie's mom. It really is depressing when the first meeting you have with your mother-in-law almost ends in fire, literally. I really didn't see why she thought that I was going to keep her son away from his family; he can do whatever the bloody hell he wants to.

I felt the ground shake and then, with a cry, Ice was off. "Ice get back here." I said to her as she continued to fly in the direction that the thump came from. I could see this big black mound in the middle of the grounds. Just then the mound flew into the air and came rushing toward Ice. "Ice this is not a good idea." I tried to concentrate on what I could feel of her emotions, which wasn't much. It didn't feel like fear, almost like anger. I stopped running and watched. I got my wand out just in case. I didn't want to hurt what I assumed was a dragon but I could always stun it if it came to it. It didn't really matter because whatever spell I sent at it would just stun it because dragons weren't affected by casted magic thrown at them because their own magic was so much stronger but if you threw a strong enough hex at one it would just get pissed off and you didn't want a dragon pissed at you, if it was as small as Ice.

I watched as Ice and the dragon that was at least five times her size flew higher into the air and started what seemed like a dance in the air. He would blow fire and she would blow her name sake back. They weren't fighting exactly but almost seeing who was the more powerful even though he was bigger. They kept getting closer together and I had no idea what was going on. "Ice." I breathed knowing that if I disturbed her something bad could happen but I didn't want it to continue and I knew she could feel that. It seemed like she was feeling exhilarated by what was happening.

With one last go around she flew back to me and landed lightly on my shoulder. The larger dragon didn't seem to like that she'd left so he followed her. I tensed but forced myself to keep my wand in the low position as to not threaten the strange dragon. He circled above us getting lower with each pass. Finally he landed in front of me. To my surprise he crouched down and bowed his head before carefully crawling closer to me. When he was close enough he nosed my hand. It was almost funny watching this huge dragon acting like a dog but I knew that he was trying to convey something. I thought back to all those books I'd read years ago trying to learn more about Ice and dragons all together. I gasped when I realized what was happening.

He was showing me that he trusted me and wanted to protect me or something along those lines, it had been a couple years since I'd read that thread of information so maybe I'd remembered it wrong. I stroked his snout showing him that his gesture wasn't ignored. He turned his head as if he heard something from behind him. As he moved so that he was standing next to me I heard a faint, "What the hell?"

TPOV (Tristan)

I was told to take care of _Huo_, the school's pet. As soon as we landed he took of flying. Turns out that this school, Hogwarts, has a dragon too yet they didn't feel fit to tell us. No they didn't even think that there might be conflict that I was now left to deal with.

I saw _Huo_ and the other dragon, a small light blue dragon were fighting except they didn't look like they were trying to kill each other so it was strange because dragon's were highly territorial so the dragon, no matter how small, should be royally pissed at _Huo_ for entering her territory yet she wasn't even playing with fire but ice. (A/N: there was an intended pun here because _Huo_ means fire in mandarin; I looked it up because I couldn't think of a name.)

I took off running thinking about how irresponsible it was to let a dragon fly around without anyone watching it. Why did the headmaster think we could learn from these people? As I got closer to the fight I saw a girl standing there watching the fight above her. She had her wand drawn but wasn't doing anything with it, which was smart because that would really make them mad and she would probably be killed. Just then the fight ended and they both landed. To my surprise the smaller dragon landed on the girl's shoulder. _Huo_ did something totally unexpected; he bowed to the young girl. She probably didn't even know what honor he was bestowing upon her, the ignorant little girl. I knew that _Huo_ would hear me approaching so I slowed my pace. When I was about two yards from the end of his tail he moved to stand with the girl. "What the hell?" I said out loud. He had to recognize me; I was his favorite student that was why I was chosen to take care of him during the trip here because he liked me the best.

"Who are you?" The girl asked me, laying her hand on _Huo's_ head as if stopping him from doing something.

"I am Tristan I'm supposed to be taking care of _Huo_. We were not informed that this school had a dragon otherwise we would've kept more control over him." I explained.

"_Huo_?" She asked. She'd probably never heard the word before but she didn't butcher it like most would've.

I pointed to the large dragon standing beside her. "That is _Huo_. His name means 'fire' for the obvious reason." Besides him breathing fire like most dragons he was also blood red.

She smiled as if laughing. I suddenly realized that she really was quite pretty; her hair was long and dark, her complexion fare and unblemished and her eyes were a stunning dark blue like the sea. They showed stubbornness, determination and intelligence. "That's ironic." She said almost to herself.

"What is ironic?"

She motioned to the small dragon on her shoulder, "This is Ice."

"That is ironic. What are you two doing-" but I was cut off by a yell of "Miss Ashburn, what on earth is going on?" I turned to see a tall red head, a tall dark haired man and an older woman running towards us I also faintly heard my own headmaster calling my name. I turned around to see my headmaster, Professor Badglesarm.

"Tristan, what is going on here?" Professor Badglesarm demanded.

"_Huo_ bowed." I said simply.

His eyes widened in surprise. "To you?"

I shook my head no and motioned to the girl who was watching the people I assumed were her professors approach with a scowl on her face. Professor Badglesarm looked the girl up and down before approaching her.

APOV

Great, I got even more of my professor's unwanted attention. I was thinking about how easy it would be to just disappear, if only I had an invisibility cloak that Hermione had told me her friend Harry had.

"Excuse me miss." I turned to see a very tall intimidating man with black hair and a goatee standing in front of me.

"I'm sorry, I was lost in thought. Did you say something?" I felt myself blush because I hadn't noticed this man standing next to me.

He smiled, "No, I was just wondering about the dragon on your shoulder? She is very beautiful."

He reached out to touch Ice but I caught his wrist, stopping him. "That's not a good idea; the last stranger that tried to touch her almost got fried and she still just barely tolerates him out of strict necessity." I released his wrist and stepped back. "Ice is a Tibetan Impression dragon."

His eyes widened in surprise. "Your Tibetan Impression I assume?" He asked.

"Yes, my Tibetan Impression." I answer with a small smile.

"Miss Ashburn what is going on here?" Professor McGonagall demanded when she reached where we were standing.

"Umm." I started thinking about how I was going to explain this. But I was saved by the man that I'd been talking to. "Hello, Professor McGonagall. I'm Headmaster Badglesarm. I assure you that I did not mean to cause a disturbance with this young lady and her pet. Luckily nothing bad has happened although it seems that our school dragon has finally picked someone to bow to."

Charlie's eyebrows went up as he looked from me to the large dragon at my side. "Do you mean to say that your dragon has chosen to bow to Miss Ashburn?" You know after all that we actually just talked about I had hoped that I wouldn't have to see Charlie at close distance until the day after tomorrow when I had another class with him and everyone knew that that was going to be awkward.

"_Huo_ is very old and has only bowed a total of twice – now three times- in his whole over a thousand year life. He's chosen this young lady as his third master, I do not know why but we have no control over who he chooses." The headmaster explained.

I thought about it for a moment. "I don't think him bowing had anything to do with me and everything to do with Ice." I said. Everyone looked at me in surprise so I explained. "When he landed,_ Huo _and Ice they flew around each other in a . . . dance, I guess. That's what probably caught your attention. I guess based on something he liked about Ice he chose me for." I shrugged when I finished knowing that it was all supposition.

The headmaster looked at me in astonishment and pride before saying, "Smart girl. I like her already. Are all your students this bright?"

McGonagall looked down at the ground before saying, "All of our students are different. Yes, it is true that Miss Ashburn is very bright but we don't compare our students because each one is different."

Tristan stepped up and said quietly in my ear, "So, in other words; you're the best and we shouldn't expect to see it in the other students."

I looked at him and rolled my eyes. I wasn't the best I was just smart and caught on quickly, I'm sure that there were more powerful students attending the school I was just smart. "I have to go and unpack. I'm sure I'll see all of you later." I said and walked off before anyone said anything against it.

"Wait, I'll come with you. You can give me a tour of the castle." Tristan said as he jogged to catch up with me. I could feel Charlie gazing after us but he didn't say anything and I wasn't really worried because it wasn't like he was going to get jealous or anything.

"I'm sure that the head boy and girl are going to be giving the students from school tours and you should probably stay with your headmaster." I tried to convince him to go away.

"No, I think I'll stick with you. I highly dislike being part of a group. I'm more of an individual." Tristan said cockily. Great, someone that likes attention wants to hang out with me. I hate attention I really do. "So those people that came running out. What do they teach?"

"The older Scottish woman is Minerva McGonagall, the headmistress and transfiguration teacher. The tall read head is Charlie Weasley, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and head of Gryffindor house." I answered vaguely.

"Why did he come running out?" Tristan asked.

"He was just on his way into the castle when you landed." I answered.

Tristan squinted at me. "How do you know he was just on his way in?"

I rolled my eyes. "We were talking and he went inside to talk to McGonagall."

"What were you talking about?" Tristan asked curiously.

"Is it uncommon for teachers and students to talk to each other? We were talking about Ice. He's a former dragon trainer so obviously he takes interested in the rare type of dragon that I call a pet." I lied easily to the stranger.

"That must make for interesting conversation in class. How long has he been teaching?" Tristan asked.

"This is his sixth year teaching." I answered.

"How do you know that off the top of your head?"

"He started here the same year I did."

"Do I get my tour now or do you really have to go unpack?" Tristan asked coyly.

I sighed. "I'll give a tour now but I do need to go unpack sometime."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

TPOV

This girl was so different than all the ones that I'd met before. She led me through the halls of her school, nodding to the teachers we passed and even a ghost. She told me what classes were taught in each room and who taught what class, she even told me briefly what each professor was like but the whole time her thoughts seemed to be on something else. She'd be in the middle of a sentence and I'd interrupt her but she'd just keep on talking because she didn't hear me. I started to wonder if that's what teachers did all the time; just lectured and ignored everything else; some were definitely oblivious enough to pass as doing that.

Finally, we finished the tour in the dungeon where she said Professor Snape taught potions. Apparently he was the most feared teacher in the school and he was very strict but she went on to say that it was probably a good thing because potions could be very dangerous if even a small mistake was made. She came to a stop and turned around to face me, "Anything else you want to know?"

"Hm. Where's your room?" I was trying to be like the guys in my school that flirted with girls but I'd never really had any interest because all the girls threw themselves at the quidditch players or if they saw someone taking care of _Huo_ because they thought it was hot. I really liked this girl because she was absolutely beautiful but she didn't seem to know it.

"Why does it matter where I sleep? I sleep with all the other girls in my house, of course. We live in dorms not in our own rooms." She answered anyway.

I was about to ask another question when I heard someone say, "Miss Ashburn, what are you doing?" I turned around to see the red headed man from earlier, Weasley and he taught Defense from what the girl had told me.

I heard her sigh. "He asked if I would give him a tour of the school, I was doing so Professor."

"Well, if you're finished I need to talk to you, in private, Miss Ashburn." Weasley said. It seemed so strange that she seemed to tense when he said he wanted to talk to her.

"Actually, Professor, we've finished but I need to go to my room and unpack. Hagrid has asked me to accompany him in seeing to the first years before the feast as well, so I'm sorry to say that I don't seem to have any free time available today and tomorrow classes start." Allyssa was totally respectful but it seemed to me that she was somehow being defiant in some small manner.

"I'm sure it doesn't take that long to unpack, Miss Ashburn." Why was he being so persistent in talking to a student privately?

"Not if I were just unpacking it would be fine but I also have to somehow convince my pet dragon that I can walk around school without her after five years of her being with me twenty-four seven because apparently in the near future she's going to live with someone she doesn't actually approve of." Her voice seemed very controlled and like they were avoiding talking about something.

**APOV**

Why in the world was he pushing this, I wondered as I glared at him. This wasn't something I wanted to talk about in front of anyone, especially this new student. "Professor, how about you show Mr. Quinn where the rest of his school is and I'll come to your office before dinner? I can't stay very long because I have some Head Girl duties to attend to but it's the best that I can do at the moment."

"That would suffice, Miss Ashburn." He really was being an ass. Not that he doesn't have a nice one but - Wait, why do care about his ass? I don't need to be thinking like that, not that it wouldn't help make things less awkward later but right now it's just weird.

"Okay, I'll see you then." I said as I walked passed him on the way to my room with Ice flying above my head.

I didn't see Hermione in the living room area and I didn't bother looking for her because I assumed she was in the library like always. We both had a bad habit of getting caught up in books and losing track of time. I was going to have to tell her it was time for dinner before I went to talk with Charlie. I don't see why he was adamant about talking to me today. Surely it could've waited at least a day or maybe until after supper at least. Getting to know him was going to be a pain in my ass if he demanded stuff like this often because I do have a life of my own that includes school, reading, my pets, and my few friends, I also help some other kids with homework when they really need help or a teacher asks me to. I even go down to the dungeons to talk to Snape once a week just so that he knows how I'm doing and can report back to my parents. We also talk about potions and have interesting conversations. I think I've taken over my mom's job of listening to him vent except now it's not about war but about the students in his classes that don't bother to pay attention to very straight forward instructions in their text books. When he's finished we normally just laugh it off. I actually look forward to those times because it's one of the few times I can just be myself and not worry about him finding out something he's not supposed to.

I still haven't told anyone about my magic being bound until my twelfth birthday because if was in the past and I didn't see the point in bringing it up.

I really didn't know how wrong I was.

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait but I just didn't feel like writing and I've been sick again. I'm thinking about writing another story. I don't know about what book or what characters but it seems like a good idea. I know all of you are probably thinking that I should finish writing this one first. The problem that I didn't really think about before I wrote this is that I can't write romance. Sure, it's okay in my head but I'm only twelve and I've never had a boyfriend considering the fact that all the boys in my grade are absolute dipshits, I'm sure most girls out there know exactly what I'm talking about. It's like thing on someone's profile: "All the good ones are taken and the rest are handicapped." I showed that to a guy and he said that it wasn't true because he's handicapped and taken so. Totally off topic but please still review. Thanks for reading!**

**A/N2: Okay so I'm going to admit that this chapter has been finished for awhile. I didn't upload because my internet is a piece of shit. But it's working now. HURRAY! I've decided that I'm going to write another Harry Potter story. Another OC but I'm not sure who the pairing should be with or if she should be in Harry's year or if she should be younger than them. I really want your opinions so please review. Thanks.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

APOV

I left mine and Hermione's rooms thinking, _don't destroy anything, don't destroy anything, don't destroy anything..._ I had left Ice alone in our rooms for the first time, well, ever and I was worried about it but it had to start sometime. I'd left her with food and Sam so hopefully Sam would help keep Ice calm. I didn't really want to bring her with me on my little trip to see Charlie considering how much she already didn't like him but she would have to get used to him eventually, well, sooner rather than later actually.

But I was really trying not to think about that. It was way too surreal to accept. I was pretty much on autopilot as I walked to the Defense Against Dark Arts room and before I knew it I was standing in front of the closed classroom door and suddenly I wished I was somewhere, anywhere else. I took a deep breath before knocking softly on the door. _Hopefully I'll get lucky and he'll have gone to dinner early and then it won't be my fault that we don't to talk. "Shucks, I'm sorry Professor but I did come but you weren't in. And you know I'm really busy right now so how about we talk later, or, you know, never." Yeah that would go over real well; I'd already met his mother and seen her temper so I don't think that that would go over so well. Added to his temper there was the small fact of my over-protective dragon that would end in disaster. Yeah it was better to just get it over with now._

I was so lost in my musing that I almost missed Charlie's gruff, "Enter," from the other side of the door. I sighed one last time before opening the door and going in. Charlie was sitting behind his desk writing something with a quill, grading papers probably, and for some reason it just looked wrong. That was when I realized that Charlie, unlike a lot of Professors, never actually sat down behind his desk during his lectures in class. He was constantly moving around the room, never really staying still long enough to have a standard teaching position. It was all part of his passion for what he was teaching. He didn't look like someone that spend the day inside sitting behind a desk, no he was one of those people that you're more likely to see working outside than inside. I knew that he'd been a dragon trainer before he'd become a teacher here and him starting here had something to do with his mom and McGonagall nagging him into it, I think it also had something to do with the war too. But that didn't really explain why he hadn't only stayed for a few years and gone back. Now he wasn't going to be able to go back without dragging me with him, I realized suddenly. Suddenly it wasn't just about how awkward this was going to be; it was about how this was going to be forever because wizards couldn't get divorced, the only way for someone to get married twice in the Wizarding World is if your first spouse dies but that isn't something I'd ever wish on anyone that was a victim of this law because it wasn't their fault.

"Oh, it's you. Good I was about to go and try to find you," Charlie said as he looked up from the papers on his desk, drawing me from my thoughts.

I looked at him for a second before asking, "Why did you stay?"

Poor Charlie looked totally taken aback by my question. "What?"

"Why did you stay and teach after the first couple years? Why didn't you go back to training dragons like you did before you came here?"

Charlie thought about it for a moment before responding. "I came here in the first place because of the war and my mom wanted me closer to home so that we'd all be together to get over the grief and try to rebuild our lives after everything that happened. I guess that's what I did; I rebuilt my life here and I've actually enjoyed it for the most part too so I didn't really see a reason to go back. Now, it seems like such a long time ago that it's hard to imagine going back. I like teaching, I like giving them first step in their dreams. Believe it or not, I like watching these kids grow up through the years and seeing how they change. I like being surprised at how different someone looks after just a couple months during the summer. I like the pleasant surprise when someone takes a greater interest in what I'm teaching and they stay after class to satisfy that curiosity. I like being able to claim that I had some part in the success of the next generation. Does that answer your question?"

I was suddenly seeing Charlie in a whole new light. He wasn't just a teacher that most school girls had a crush on he was a man that honestly loved his job. He was passionate about what he taught and he wasn't afraid to show it, unlike Snape who totally loves potions and lets it dominate his life yet he doesn't let any of the students see that. Very few actually watch him close enough to see that spark of amazement that is in his eyes when students of his shows promise in the field. Even fewer ever really acknowledge that he would absolutely love to have someone that he could pass on his experience to and let his passion show with but the war has left him so jaded and suspicious that he trusts very few people but I'd like to think that he sees some of those things in me.

"Yeah, it does. Thanks that was kind of random. What did you want to talk to me about?" I asked as I shook my head to clear it.

"I was hoping you wouldn't mind coming with me to meet the rest of my family. I know you and Mum didn't exactly hit it off but I think it'll go better this time around, if it's okay with you. If you don't particularly want to face her again after what happened last time that's fine and I'll invite everyone to Hogsmeade and you can meet them there or even in my rooms here at the castle."

I cocked my head to the side, thinking. I didn't really want to give Charlie's mom another go at me but I would have to meet his family some time and there was no reason it couldn't or shouldn't be this weekend. I sighed. I didn't really want Mrs. Weasely to be mad at me forever because that would just be awkward. "I guess we have to get it over with sometime and there's no reason it shouldn't be sooner rather than later. So, yeah, this weekend should be fine. Another thing we have to think about is you meeting my family before the wedding." Which in itself was going to be really awkward considering the fact that my parents were muggles and lived in America, I added to myself.

Charlie blew out a sigh before saying, "Yeah I guess we should do that sometime soon. You only have one older brother right?" Charlie asked as if he was trying to make a joke but I could still tell he was actually nervous about meeting my family, which I totally understood because I was nervous about meeting his.

"Yeah only one older brother," I didn't mention the fact that my little brother was taller than me though.

"Great. I was wondering if instead of going to the Great Hall for dinner we could eat here and talk. We might as well get to know each other." Charlie suggested.

I was pretty sure that I'd suggested the same thing not too long ago and it hadn't gone very well but what the hell, why not try again? "Sure, that'd be nice." I answered even though I wasn't sure that eating in his classroom would get rid of the awkwardness of the student-teacher relationship.

Charlie smiled teeth and all and I have to admit that it was very sexy smile. "Great just let me finish up here and then we'll go back to my rooms and eat, okay?"

Yay! No eating in the classroom that was a good thing. "Okay." I turned and looked around the room. It really was one of my favorite classrooms; not because of the teacher but because of what was taught. Yeah, all the other classes were interesting too but honestly this had to with real life and it was more than just spells; it was when you should use them and what for. I know all the classes intertwined but DADA seemed to have just about everything in it; Magical Creatures, Transfiguration, Charms, Arithmacy and sometimes even Divination (even though it was a terrible class). The classroom was one of the most interesting too; books lined the walls and a dinosaur hung from the ceiling, yet it was still the one that was the most adaptable, both to the teacher and to the day's lesson. It's probably a good thing that this room is adaptable considering the fact that, as Hermione tells it, they had a different DADA teacher every year while she was in school. I guess I was lucky to have come after because apparently there had been some pretty bad ones.

"Ready to go?" Charlie asked as he came up behind me.

"Yeah." I said before following him to his private quarters.

"Do you have Ice with you or have you just gotten better at hiding her?" Charlie asked as we walked.

I shook my head. "No, I don't have her with me. She's back in my rooms with Sam. I figured she was getting too big to be carried around in a bag all the time. I'm just hoping she doesn't destroy my room while I'm away."

Charlie laughed. "Yeah she probably is getting too big. From what I've heard she won't get too much bigger though. Who's Sam?"

It was my turn to laugh then. "Yeah, I've read that too. I'm just happy that she won't get as big as _Huo_. Sam is my dog; she was the pet I chose my choice rather than being chosen. She seems to help calm Ice sometimes, or at least distract her, so I left her in with Ice hoping that she would make it easier for Ice."

Charlie's rooms were Gryffindor color almost completely. It was actually close to overwhelming actually but there were some blacks and different shades of red that made it tolerable. All the wood in the rooms was a beautiful cherry with intricate carvings on some things. There was a small kitchen that Charlie led me to and the kitchen table already had food on it, food for two. "A little cocky aren't you? Already having food set up?"

"No, I wouldn't dare; I ordered it while we were still in the classroom so that we wouldn't have to wait." Charlie answered as he pulled out my chair like an old fashioned gentleman, or maybe people still do that here in the Wizarding World, I wasn't sure.

"Oh." Was all I said in response. I know I probably should've felt stupid for making the assumption but I didn't because Charlie hadn't been defensive or mad. I actually felt comfortable with Charlie surprisingly. I mean yeah he was my teacher and everything but in all honesty he wasn't that much older than me and he was my best friend's best friend's brother and for some reason that lessened the weirdness by a lot. The only thing wrong with him that I could see at the moment was that my dragon had a long lasting grudge against him. Yeah it might have been the only problem that I saw at that moment but in all honesty it was a pretty big flaw. Especially when that dragon comes with me almost everywhere or she did until today.

**A/N: Yay! 2 chapters in a week don't get used to it. I think I got the biggest result, for want of a better word, on the last chapter and I think that's why I ended up getting another chapter up this week. Thanks to all who added me or the story or both to their favorites, story alerts and reviews. Definitely the people who reviewed. I'm not going to beg you to review because I'm guilty of not reviewing on stories either but I really would like it if people would review. Hope you like it!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

APOV

Charlie and I were sitting in silence for a couple minutes; it wasn't that comfortable silence either, it was one of those where you had stuff you wanted to say but you just couldn't get the courage to say anything. That was why when Charlie sighed I almost visibly jumped. "You know, when I suggested dinner I thought we were going to talk. Not that this isn't extremely stimulating but…"

I grimaced. He was right. "Yeah, I know. I just . . . I don't know what it is."

Charlie nodded. "Okay then. Where to start? You asked about my job, so why don't we start there? As Hermione has probably told you before I came to teach in Hogwarts I was a dragon trainer in Romania. Ever since my first Care of Magical Creatures class here at Hogwarts I was always fascinated by magical animals in general but dragon in particular. So, over the years I gathered all the information about dragons of all kinds that I could, in all honesties; it totally infuriated Mum and that made it all the better. Bill and I were always doing things to make her mad. Well, not so much Bill but I was. I can still remember Percy being a prat when he was little and telling Mum about all the things we did. Hell, I bet he even annoyed Mum he told on us so much. I'll be honest and say that I absolutely loved being a dragon trainer. It was my dream job and I could never imagine enjoying anything else like I did that but over the years I saw so many good people being hurt because they took one wrong step and the dragon woke up on the wrong side of the cave. I still enjoyed it till the end, hell if I hadn't loved teaching so much I would go back any day and still do it. I really do love teaching though. I like to watch the awe on the kids' faces when I tell some exciting story or I demonstrate a new spell."

I smiled. I couldn't believe how honest Charlie was being with me. I looked into his eyes before glancing away and sighing. "I'm not talkative and you've been my Professor for six years, it's going to be awkward and I'm trying to get over that, I really am, believe me. To make this easier on me so that I'm not rambling how about we play question and answer. Since you started talking you get to ask me the first question."

"Okay, sounds fair to me. I know this is awkward, it is for me too. Hmm. We'll keep it simple. What classes do you like the best?" Charlie asked.

I groaned. Generic much? "Umm. Don't let this go to your head but your class is probably one of my favorites along with Hagrid's." I thought for a moment. "Why go to Romania to work with dragons? I'm almost positive there's a reserve closer."

"There is a reserve closer but the reserve in Romania is the best and they were willing to start paying me right off the bat instead of after a couple years of training. Plus, I wanted to get away from home and see more of the world. The reserve in Romania moves dragons to more places more often." Charlie paused before asking his question. "So what are you going to do about _Huo_?"

I groaned. "I have no idea. It's one of those things that I don't really have a choice in but even if I did I don't think I'd say no to him. But with Ice there already it's kind of hard besides the fact that he isn't exactly small." I sighed. "I don't know. That dragon is literally the mascot and idol of the school so I can't exactly just take that away from them but I don't think he's going to leave me."

"I think the school can survive without him for a little bit. He won't leave your side unless you order him to or you die. A dragon is a great thing to have as a familiar but very few wizards can have two and still function normally." Seeing my questioning look Charlie explained. "A familiar takes a little of the witch's or wizard's magic and can use it. The thing about creatures like dragons that have their own magic but in a different form is that they can do more and use less of your magic. It also means that they will do more to try and protect you. So if you were to have two familiars they would drain your magic considerably, especially two dragon familiars. You are powerful, on a level of few others especially at your age but you won't know your full power until you become of age."

I thought about what Charlie had said before asking, "Do you have a familiar?"

Charlie nodded. "This better not count as my question; would you like to meet him?" I nodded and Charlie whistled softly. A couple seconds later a beautiful, black panther came out of what I assumed was him bedroom. "This is Nitro."

"He's beautiful." Okay, that totally sounded cliché but it was totally true. He was completely black with just hints of little spots on his fur. When he heard my voice he looked up from Charlie's hand and looked over at me. His eyes were a brilliant yellow.

Charlie looked between us before saying softly to Nitro, "Go say hi." That was all it took to get Nitro to walk the few steps it took to be at my side. I carefully held my hand out and let him smell it. To my surprise he only took a few seconds to sniff at my hand before nuzzling it with the top of his head. His fur was so soft and silky it was unbelievable. After a little couple minutes of petting Nitro lay down at my feet and seemed content to just stay. Charlie looked surprised but didn't say anything about it. Instead he went on to ask his own question, "So what do you have interest in doing after you finish school?"

I thought about it. Thought about saying something, paused, and thought about it some more. Whatever I decided to do after Hogwarts affected him to in the long run. In all honesties, the only thing that we could easily work out with him being a teacher here at Hogwarts was for me to teach too. I wasn't sure if I wanted to teach though; sure I knew the material and I enjoyed learning about it but could be on the other side of the book and teach it. I could help other students who were struggling with it but could I teach it to kids who had absolutely no idea what they were doing? I didn't want to end up being a teacher like Snape either though and it could happen considering how much I hadn't people acting like idiots. I think I would aim for being a teacher like McGonagall: no-nonsense yet fun. Or a teacher like Charlie that could crack and take jokes and was respected for the knowledge he had. I sighed. I really had no idea what I wanted to do after school and I only had months before I was there. I looked at Charlie. "I'm not like you and have something that I love with such a passion. Besides, with you wanting to continue teaching it'd be easier for me to do something here at Hogwarts but I don't know if I could handle teaching."

Charlie frowned and I immediately assumed I'd said something wrong. "Just because I want to teach doesn't mean you have to limit yourself to doing that as well. I don't have to teach at Hogwarts and if I do still teach at Hogwarts but you want to move I'm sure we can work something out with Minerva."

I shrugged. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind. I know my parents kind of wanted me to get a job closer to home after I finished school but I'm sure they'll understand if I stay here."

"I'm sure they will. Think about that because you do only have until the end of this year to decide. I do believe it's your turn to ask a question but how about, if you're finished eating, we go into the living room and sit down in there?" Charlie suggested.

So we went into the living room and sat down on the couch. Nitro followed us in and sprawled across us after we'd sat down. Charlie and I both laughed at the panther and absently petted him as we talked. We talked about anything and everything. After a while we abandoned the question and answer game and moved into just talking like old friends getting caught up. We didn't really bring up the future any more, well not person future because that was a kind of touchy topic. We didn't stop until we heard the clock in Charlie's rooms chime eleven thirty.

We both stood up fast sending Nitro to the floor hissing at us both. I ran a hand through my hair before saying. "Well, shit." That seemed to sum up both of our thoughts. It was after curfew and I was supposed to patrol tonight, on top of that I'd left Ice upstairs for hours. I started making my way toward the door at a brisk walk hoping that Filch didn't catch me; he didn't seem to care that I was Head Girl, if I was caught in the halls after curfew without a partner he would deduct points, my position saved me from detention but he'd still deduct points.

"Hey, Allyssa wait up for a sec." Charlie said as he followed me out of the living room. "Let me walk you back to your rooms, at least. I didn't mean to keep you out after curfew."

"No, that's fine. If anyone catches you walking me back to my rooms they'll jump to the wrong conclusion; if they just see me they'll just think that I was patrolling which I was actually supposed to do tonight."

"Okay, then. Good night." Charlie said and hesitated before leaning down (not too much I'm not that short) and kissing me. I think he just meant it to be a peck on the lips just to get us used to that sort of thing but he paused before leaning up and then just decided "to hell with it" and tilted his head before running his tongue along my bottom lip. I hesitated before granting it and when I opened my mouth he slipped his tongue in. I could tell he was purposefully going slow with me. I'm not sure how my arms wrapped themselves around his neck or when but when I finally turned my head to break the kiss so that I could breathe I found myself on my toes with my arms around his neck. I blushed as I lowered my arms and took a step back. I turned around and had my hand around the handle before I paused and said, "Good night, Charlie." And left to go back to mine and Hermione's rooms to see what kind of damage Ice had done to the place. Hopefully it was minimal.

Not that I was really thinking about Ice after that kiss, my first, but I was pretty sure it would considered mind-blowing to just about any girl I know.

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and added me to their alert list. I've recently (today) been told that they found this story addicting and I'm so happy that they think that. So today is Monday, May 02, 2011 and I finished the fifteenth chapter of this story after about five months. Today is also one of my friend's birthday and she asked what today was and I answered Monday, repeatedly. (On purpose after the first time). If you don't get it that means that you are more mature than I am today so congrats.**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

CPOV

I watched Allyssa walk out of my room and into the classroom beyond. I was still breathing raggedly from the kiss. I hadn't meant for it to go that far by any means but once I started I couldn't seem to stop. It had looked like she'd enjoyed it but what the hell do I know about girls? I knew how to get them into bed and what to do with them once they were there but that was it. I'd never had a long term relationship; sure I'd had shag-buddies that I'd gotten with a couple times a week but that wasn't dating. I'd taken girls on dates before but that had just been a pretense for what we both knew was going to come later.

I sighed as I walked back into the living room and sank back down onto the couch. Nitro walked over and looked between me and the door. I guess it was a good thing that he approved of her. Now all I had to do was make sure that she didn't get into anymore arguments with the rest of my family or else they were never going to get to know her very well and that wouldn't turn out well. Hell, why was I thinking this was going to work out okay anyway? I didn't know how she was going to react to anything. Even after tonight I still didn't really know her; sure I knew some stuff about her and I kind of knew what kind of sense of humor she had. I knew she was a good student and helped other students and I also knew that she was one of the few people in the world that could get along with Snape.

It had been great tonight after we both got over the awkwardness of the situation and just starting talking. She'd talked about her life at home and her family and friends. She talked about how annoying it was sometimes that she had to be constantly worried about Ice but how she wouldn't give Ice up for anything in the world because she knew that she'd always be there for her. She'd talked about how strange it felt to be the only witch in the family and how weird it was to leave the country to go to school. And in turn I'd talked about my family life and what it was like living at home and then in Romania with the dragons. I'd also talked about what I liked and hated about teaching and what my school years were like (I skipped over a few details because she didn't need to hear about some of the bad things I'd done as a kid). We'd laughed over stuff happening at the school and debated about what kind of teacher Hermione would be and if her status in society would affect it. I'd learned that she had a quick wit and that she absolutely loved a good debate. We'd talked about how dragons were treating around the world and how it should change but still protect ignorant bystanders. After a while we steered away from the topic of dragons because it reminded us both of the problem Ice was going to be.

Hopefully we'd be able to get through the emotional problems before we had to cross that bridge.

APOV

I walked back to my room on auto pilot. I softly told Lucy the password and walked in to see Hermione sitting on the couch in the common room. As soon as I walked in she looked up from the book she had in her lap and fixed me with an accusing glare. "Where have you been? You weren't at dinner and you hadn't told me where you were going to be, hell, you didn't even tell me you were going anywhere," Hermione ranted. She took a deep breath and let it out before finally asking, "So where were you exactly?"

I looked away from the girl I see as my one and true friend and mumbled, "With Charlie."

I saw Hermione's eyes widen, "What did you just say?"

I sighed and looked Hermione in the eye and told her, "I was with Charlie in his rooms and we were talking." I closed my eyes and went to collapse on the couch with Hermione. I buried my face in the cushions before mumbling into it, "And he kissed me."

Of course, Hermione being the amazing witch that she is heard me perfectly. I could just tell that her eyes widened and she sat there a minute absolutely still before saying what did, "Okay, tell me everything. Starting with when you got there."

So I sat up and did the only sane thing one can do when their best friend just asked about their first date; I sat up and I told her everything. It took about an hour and a half because Hermione kept asking questions about small details otherwise it would have taken twenty minutes tops and I would've gone to bed without uttering another word but sadly Hermione wouldn't have. So we sat there on that couch talked for two and half hours because Hermione did something I never thought I'd see her do; she gushed on and on, not only about my date with Charlie but her date with Victor. I was very happy for her when she'd told me that he'd asked her out to "catch up" . . . . . the first time. It got a little less exciting after she'd said it a hundred times and planned out what she was going to wear and changed her mind and repeated the whole thing over and over again. But really, I was extremely happy for her, I was also extremely tired the next morning after getting less than two hours of sleep because after Hermione finally let me go to bed I spent hours wondering why I wasn't that excited about my spontaneous date with Charlie and how well things were going and what the kiss really meant to me and to him.

Finally, right before I fell asleep I realized that Ice was calmly curled up next to me and she hadn't reacted bad at all to being left alone for a couple hours.

**A/N: thanks so much to those who have reviewed and added me to their favorites and alerts. I've started a new story the title sucks as does the summary. I'm not in any way abandoning or done with this story so don't worry. I need your guys' help with picking out a pairing for my other story so if you guys could read it and offer a suggestion that'd help a lot. Thank you for reading and (hopefully!) reviewing!**


	17. Chapter 17

The Real Chapter Seventeen

**A/N: Thanks to all of you who gave me your honest opinions. I now have a beta to check my spelling and type-o's so hopefully those will mostly disappear. I am editing/rewriting the earlier chapters but not much should change so you don't actually have to go back and read them if you don't want to. Please continue to give me your opinion in reviews. Enjoy!**

APOV

It was Friday. The students from the other school still hadn't started classes yet and very few people actually knew they were her it was odd to say the least.

I was sitting in Defense Against the Dark Arts, my last class of the day listening to Charlie's lecture on dragons. Obviously he was one of the best people to teach about them but he kept hinting at something. Saying stuff like, "The only way to really understand dragons is to watch them."

I already knew most of the information but I was diligently taking notes anyway. I just about dropped my quill when Charlie asked the class, "A dragon hatched a couple years ago in the Diagon Alley pet store, does anyone remember what type of dragon it was?"

I was honestly thinking about killing Charlie if he told everyone my secret, especially when Hazel Simon, Lavender Brown's clone, raised her hand and said, "I don't know what king it was but it was the prettiest sky blue. I asked Madame Igora if I could have the scales when she killed it to make a purse. She got mad and said she wasn't going to kill it." Why are the kids in my year so vain and dumb? Of course I was bristling because she was so cold hearted as to even think about killing an animal so needlessly and for something so stupid!

But all Charlie did was nod and ask, "Why did you expect her to kill it?"

"Well, everyone wanted to buy it but she wouldn't sell it so I assumed she was going to kill it," Hazel said as if it was totally obvious.

"Do you remember why she wouldn't sell it?" Charlie pressed.

Hazel frowned in thought before shrugging it off and saying, "It had some type of problem with people."

Charlie finally realized he wasn't going to get any more information out of Hazel so he said, "Most dragons don't like people but the dragon that hatched in the pet store is extremely rare and it actually doesn't mind being around people, well a certain person. The dragon that was in Diagon Alley was a Tibetan Impression Dragon. They're destined to have one master and it hatches when their master comes into their magic. In the wild an Impression Dragon will fly out to find its master about six months after it hatches. An Impression Dragon's master is always very strong magically because Impressions share their master's magic to grow and mature," Charlie stopped and looked at the class. Half a dozen students had their hands raised to ask a question.

The first student Brian, asked, "What happened to the Impression in Diagon Alley?"

"I assume it found its master," Charlie said with ease.

The next student, Alex, asked, "Why does it only wait six months? Most wizards come into their magic at about three."

Charlie shrugged and said, "Most don't even wait that long; as soon as they can fly they're gone. It's interesting though because most Impression master's come into their magic later than usual; so the Impression doesn't hatch until its master is about ten."

The next question was asked by Katie, a Ravenclaw that was extremely smart but lacked common sense. "Does being an Impression Dragon's master run in families?"

At this Charlie looked at me before answering the question, it was the first time all class he'd acknowledged my presence. It was strange actually, ever since out date and the kiss he'd avoided me. Normally, I guess, it would worry a girl and on some level it did but I was just happy he hadn't taken my saying yes to the date as me giving permission for him to make out "relationship" public. "No one really knows. You see, Impressions are very picky about whom they let close to them and their master; they also hold very long grudges. So if you make them mad in the smallest way they are very capable of hating you for the rest of your life; which means you aren't going to get anywhere near their master."

With that class was over and everyone started moving and talking at the same time. In all the chaos I almost missed Charlie saying, "Miss Ashburn, a moment please."

But I heard it and so did Ice because she popped her head out of her bag, looking to see if the coast was clear before she climbed out and on to my desk.

As soon as Charlie turned around from locking the door I said, "What the hell was that?"

Charlie looked taken aback. "What?"

"You kept going on about Impressions. You didn't even have to bring it up if no one mentioned it."

Charlie held up his hands in an 'I'm innocent' surrender. "I'm sorry. Impressions are amazing and rare; I needed something they could connect with."

"Whatever," Okay, so it was a stupid reason to get mad at him but I honestly felt like h was trying to get me to tell everyone my secret and that would make life way too hard.

Charlie shifted his weight from foot to foot and put his hands in the pockets of his trousers. For such a big man it looked ridiculous so I raised an eyebrow, imitating the Potion's Master to a tee if you ask me. Charlie just sighed and said, "Would you mind if we went to my rooms for a bit?"

I just shook my head and followed him. Ice flew up and landed on my shoulder. She didn't seem tense like she normally was in Charlie's presence. As soon as we were through the doorway Nitro came out and started nuzzling against the fabric of m school skirt. To my surprise Ice calmly flew off my shoulder and landed on the ground in front of Nitro. Nitro landed opened his eyes and just looked at Ice before slowly laying down. Somehow this seemed to satisfy her and she flew off to go investigate Charlie's rooms.

I looked up from the exchange to find Charlie smiling slightly. "One thing I didn't mention in class today was that Tibetan Impressions are pretty much considered royalty to all animals, magical or not. That's why if you were to walk on to any dragon reserve in the world, with or without Ice, you would not be harmed by a single dragon," Charlie explained.

It took a minute or two to process what Charlie had said. When it finally sank in I asked, "Is that why Huo bowed to me?"

Charlie seemed to think about it for a moment before replying, "It might've had a little to do with it when dragons fly around each other like Ice and Huo did before he bowed is how dragons get to know one another. What might take humans six months to learn about one another dragons know in the five minutes they do their dance in the sky. Because Ice is an Impression she wasn't conveying her own information but yours and apparently Huo liked what found out."

Again it took a while for the information to sink in before I nodded in understanding. Charlie motioned for us to sit on the couch so I did. Charlie sat next to me a little closer than I might've been comfortable with but after a moment I allowed myself to relax in the surprisingly intoxicating heat of Charlie's body. When Ice flew back into the room I felt Charlie tense beside me but Ice barely seemed to notice, she just flew to one of the armchairs and curled up on the seat. Charlie sighed and relaxed.

I looked up at Charlie, expecting him to say something. Charlie looked back at me and just stared into my eyes before he took a deep breath and looked away. "Tomorrow we're going into Hogsmeade and meeting the rest of my family," he just let that hang there a moment before continuing, "They're going to be loud, intrusive gits the lot of them but the only one you really have to worry about is Ron. He's the only one who actually listens when mum rants and according to Dad she's been doing that a lot lately. Another reason he's not going to be happy is that he and his fiancée Lavender have been planning their own wedding for Easter." Charlie had a scowl on his face that told just how much he despised his youngest brother at the moment.

"His fiancée wouldn't just happen to be Lavender Brown would she?" I asked with a wince.

"The one and only, why?" Charlie asked as he looked back at me again.

I wanted to hit my head against the nearest hard surface so I did. The nearest hard surface just happened to be Charlie's chest though so it didn't really hurt and I was nice and warm so I decided to bury my face there for a little bit longer so Charlie couldn't see my face. "Then he probably wouldn't like me even if your mom thought I was a perfect angel," I informed Charlie's chest.

Somehow Charlie's ears also got the memo because he asked, "Why doesn't Lavender Brown like you?"

I took a deep breath, trying to figure out a way to tell Charlie this without sounding completely juvenile but my thoughts got side tracked when I realized Charlie smelled _really_ good. Like leather and mint and something completely Charlie. I never got all the way through formulation a good answer to Charlie's question so somehow I just ended up saying, "Remember the welcoming Feast my first year when you had to intervene between me and Lavender before both me and Ice lost it? Well, it kinda just got worse from there; she was a bitch to me so I was a bitch to her. Do you remember how she was always mad about something? Like her hair suddenly wouldn't untangle so it looked like a rat's nest, or she couldn't find matching shoes, tights, socks, hair clips, et cetera. That was all me and Ginny, Hermione joined in sometimes when Lavender did something that really pissed her off." After Lavender had graduated I'd almost missed her because with her went my favorite hobby.

Charlie burst out laughing and didn't stop until he had tears in his eyes and was out of breath. "You know she came to me in tears when something happened to her hair and she asked if I knew any potions that would fix it, I do but I sent her to Snape instead. She only went to him once and I heard he said that it wasn't worth his time or potion ingredients to make hair products for students so she'd just have to wait until the next Hogsmeade trip."

I remembered that one. Ginny had asked Fred and George if they had any hair pranks they needed tested. I don't think they had any when she'd asked but they made one up real fast when they knew Ginny was going to prank someone. It had turned out great. We'd swapped her shampoo with the prank shampoo and she'd washed her hair with it and when Lavender washes her hair she washes with shampoo at least twice if not three times and it doesn't take effect until after her hair dried. It was bloody brilliant, especially because the side effect of the potion that was supposed to counter act the prank shampoo made her hair look and probably feel like straw for a whole month it was right before NEWTs too. Hermione hadn't been too happy when she'd found out, after she'd stopped laughing of course.

"Well, that's certainly going to make things interesting tomorrow. You didn't tell her at the end of the year, did you?" Charlie asked.

I lifted my head that had been lying on Charlie's chest for a while instead of hiding in it to give him a look that surely said he was insane. "Why on Earth would we do that? She might not've been that smart but I was a first year, she definitely knew at least one spell I couldn't defend myself against."

Charlie looked at me for a moment before he burst out laughing, again. "What? What is so funny?" I asked as I gently slapped his arm.

It took Charlie a minute to calm himself down before he could answer. "She probably did know a spell you couldn't consciously defend yourself against but I just said to the whole class that Impressions' masters are very powerful, you probably would've thrown up a shield strong enough to block any of her spells just on instinct. Plus, you have Ice here who would've either frozen or fried her." Charlie looked at me for a moment before saying, "You've never realized how strong you are, have you? You've toned down your emotions so much because of Ice you've never gotten mad enough that you couldn't control your magic."

Charlie looked taken aback by what he'd just realized. "So?" I honestly didn't know what the big deal was. Did he honestly expect me to have gone all these years just letting my emotions rule me? Putting Ice at risk just because I couldn't deal with the people around me was not a choice.

" 'So?' Do you know how many people could do that? Especially at your age there's so much stuff that people are supposed to feel. You've completely blocked all that out! Why would someone do that?" Charlie was yelling by now and the atmosphere at turned tense. Ice was watching intensely, waiting for me to do something. Even Nitro felt it and had started pacing back and forth to the side of Ice's chair.

I took a deep breath and counted silently to ten before replying in a dangerously quiet tone, "I have not cut off my emotions, I've simply not them _control_ me. Now this might seem stupid to some people but most people don't have a deadly dragon that would attack if I progressed above annoyance." I looked Charlie in the eye and watched him visibly pale as his eyes widened and he finally realized why I kept my emotions so firmly guarded. I sighed before saying, "I just don't want anyone to get hurt."

Charlie sat down on the couch next to me and pulled me into his side. I just sat there for a moment before I allowed myself to relax into him once more and I felt the whole room relax with me. He waited a minute before saying, "I'm sorry. I just feel like you're missing so much because of this stupid law and then when Katie asked that question today in class I realized that no one really ever got close to you because you wouldn't let them. You'd never been on a date before the other night with me and there's so much else you should experience before you get engaged to be married." I listened to what he was saying and when I heard him talk about our date I expected him to say something about the kiss as well but he didn't, I decided to think about it later. He was right, I should be able to experience more without marriage hanging over my head but there wasn't anything I could do about it now so I didn't want to dwell on that. Charlie finished by saying, "Then I realize that you've been blocking your emotions and not living life to the fullest, I just went off I guess."

I looked up at him before saying, "You make it sound like marriage is the end of my life when, married or not, I have my whole life ahead of me because no matter what your mother says I'm not going to stay home and take care of the kids and doing nothing but," I wasn't really insulting his mom but I could see her expecting me to have a whole bunch of kids and for me to stay home and take care of them.

Charlie smiled and said, "Okay, okay, I get it. So what are you going to do after you finish school?"

I thought about it before saying, "That depends on you. If you go back to being a dragon trainer I'll go and join you. If you stay and continue teaching I'll probably take over for Snape or Hagrid."

Charlie was looking at me in awe. "You want to teach potions?"

I just shrugged and said, "I like potions and Snape would probably take me on as an apprentice so I could do it if I wanted to."

"And if I go back to being a dragon trainer you would join me?" Charlie asked skeptically.

"Well you just said that if I stepped on a dragon reserve they wouldn't hurt me. I could work with the dragons and calm them so they won't hurt themselves," it would be a dream come true for dragon trainers if it actually worked, I knew.

"Or you would take over for Hagrid?" Charlie seemed more confused about this than any of the others.

"Well, I've always had a way with animals and you said that they wouldn't hurt me, I think that would help in both being a game warden and a Care of Magical Creatures Professor," I explained.

"Allyssa, have you ever been in the Forbidden Forest?" Charlie asked carefully.

"Yes, I have, actually. Hagrid's taken me in when he needed help with something and Snape has taken me along to help him get potion ingredients," now I finally understood why Hagrid hadn't been worried when he took me in.

Charlie just shook his head and sighed. "Can we just sit here for a while? Not talking, not thinking, just sitting and enjoying each others' company?"

I simply nodded against Charlie's chest. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the moment. Tomorrow could turn into a disaster or it could go off without a hitch, it didn't matter right now, at this moment nothing mattered. The only thing I was thinking about _right now_ was the kiss and if it was going to happen again anytime soon.

In the comfort of Charlie's arms I didn't have a worry in the world. We sat there like that for a long time, I think, before I drifted off to sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

CPOV

I knew Allyssa would be mad at me but, honestly, rare dragons are my passion and I needed an excuse to talk about at least one. So I asked her to stay after class. I didn't expect her out break though.

I invited her back to my rooms because standing in the classroom is awkward and Nitro had been mopey lately so I wanted to see if Allyssa would cheer him up, it cheered me up. I didn't want to talk about her meeting my brothers tomorrow or anything else; I just wanted to kiss her like I did the other night. I'd known it was her first kiss because I'd kept a close eye on her for years because of Ice. It had been bliss though, regardless of her inexperience.

I sat close her on the couch. I needed to be close to her so I could convince myself she wasn't going to shy away from me. I didn't tell her about the ring in my pocket that I wanted her to wear tomorrow to meet my family so they could see that we were serious. She wouldn't have to wear it all the time, just for me so _I_ knew we were serious and it wasn't a dream and I wasn't just some creepy teacher that had a crush on of his students.

No, I didn't tell her anything about the ring in my pocket. No, instead I talked about Ron and Lavender. Allyssa showed a side of herself that I'd never seen before. She was absolutely amazing; everything a man could hope for in a woman: smart, attractive, powerful and funny. She's got a temper down in there somewhere that I've seen once or twice too.

It was amazing how well Ice reacted to Allyssa being mad and how close she was to me. Apparently Ice's opinion of me had changed for the better, hopefully it reflected Allyssa's feelings.

When Allyssa had fallen asleep I'd been in complete bliss and pleasantly surprised because it meant she was comfortable here with me and that was a miracle in itself. I wish I could let her sleep here, in my rooms, with me but she probably has homework to do and she has to eat dinner so I sat there with her until it was almost time for dinner. I kissed the top of her head before saying softly by her ear, "Allyssa, you have to wake up. It's time for dinner, sweetheart."

She made a sound of protest before she tried to snuggle deeper into my chest. I laughed at how cute she looked. My laughing (or perhaps it was the vibrations) woke her up. Allyssa slowly opened her dark blue beautiful eyes before closing them tightly again to black out the light. After a moment she opened them again. My breath caught when she sat up; her clothes were rumpled, her dark hair was mussed and her sleep dimmed eyes were trying to take in her surroundings.

Eventually she realized where she was and who she was with. She looked up at me and smiled shyly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep," she said sheepishly.

I just chuckled at her embarrassment and said, "It's fine. I would've let you sleep longer but it's dinner time and I figured you might have plans with Hermione or someone."

Allyssa frowned and ran a hand through her dark hair. "Yeah, I have plans . . . . with my charms essay that's due Monday." She sighed before standing and stretching like a cat. "So, tomorrow, noon, at the Three Broomsticks?"

How to say this? "Umm, yeah, meet me at the gates. I have one more thing I wanted to talk to you about. We're engaged, even if neither of us had much of a choice in it and that's a big thing for people and their families. My family has traditions that, I imagine, we will carry with us until the end of time." I paused to catch up with myself and let my words sink in. "One of those traditions is that the woman wears a ring," I pulled the ring from my pocket and I saw Allyssa's eyes widen. This wasn't how I'd ever imagined proposing to my future wife; we were supposed to be eating a candle lit dinner that I'd cooked and I was supposed to be on one knee beside her chair holding her hand and looking into her eyes.

I made a silent promise to myself that I would do all those things for her and I would propose correctly but now just wasn't the right time. "If you aren't wearing a ring they'll all think we aren't serious. You don't have to wear it all the time just for my family, for me," I finished lamely.

Allyssa took a step closer to me and I looked into her eyes. She smiled reassuringly before standing on her toes and kissing my cheek. While our heads were so close together she whispered, "I'll wear the ring tomorrow. I'd love to wear it all the time but I can't until we do it right. You were mad at me earlier for missing out on experiences, this is one I won't let either of us miss." With that she held out her left hand for me to put the ring on her. I took a deep breath and slowly slid it on. It fit perfectly on her small hand.

I looked up from her hand and stared into her sapphire eyes. I lowered my head the extra inch needed and captured her lips with my own. I'd been waiting to do this for days. It was a sweet kiss. When I broke the kiss I took in her flushed face, closed eyes and slightly swollen lips. She looked absolutely sexy and it was all I could do not to kiss her again.

Allyssa's eyes opened and her blush immediately darkened and she turned her head away. She cleared her throat and said, "I should go to dinner. I'll see you tomorrow." With that she grabbed bags and walked out into the classroom, little blue dragon close behind.

APOV

I walked the deserted halls on the way to my rooms. I knew Ice was flying behind me and on some level I realized how dangerous that was but for the most part I was staring at my left hand, and more importantly, the ring Charlie had put on it. So much had changed, for the better yes but I had a feeling moving too quickly was going to lead to problems neither of us knew how to solve.

When the portrait door opened I saw Hermione sitting on one of the couches. "Where have you been?" She demanded.

"With Charlie," I mumbled.

"For this long? I don't think so, not unless something's wrong." Of course Hermione heard and wouldn't let me go to dinner unless she had her answers.

"Yes, for this long. We talked about me meeting his brothers and what to expect."

"That wouldn't take this long. What else did you talk about?" As I was about to reply Hermione shrieked, "Oh my God, what is _that?_"

She'd, of course, grabbed my left hand and was gawking at the engagement ring Charlie had put on my third finger a couple minutes before.

It was a beautiful ring. A blue sapphire in the middle surrounded by diamonds was in the center. The gold had a small carving of a dragon on the right side of the ring and the rest was covered in runes. Even without really studying the runes I could tell the majority represented protection, peace and love.

I blushed as I said, "Charlie said that if I wasn't wearing a ring tomorrow when we meet his brothers they'll think we aren't serious." I didn't mention that as much as I didn't want to after tomorrow I would give Charlie his ring back because I saw how much it bothered him that he couldn't do it right.

Hermione squinted at me and asked, "And is it serious?"

I looked away as I answered. "I don't know. We might be getting there." I sighed and looked Hermione in the eye, "I don't know what's going on and I don't really want to think about it tonight. Can we just go to dinner and forget about it all, just for tonight?"

Hermione searched my face for a moment before answering, "How about we do what we used to do during the holidays? We'll have Dobby bring us macaroni and cheese, eat a bunch of deserts and talk till midnight."

I smiled. Hermione always knew just what to do. I knew she saw me as a little sister sometimes but she never was condescending to me so I didn't mind.

So, we put our night clothes on and did just that; we ate comfort food even though we weren't really sad just a wee bit over whelmed and talked and laughed until we saw dawn.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Maybe staying up until dawn the night before I met my soon-to-be-brother-in-laws wasn't such a good idea.

I slept until ten the next morning and both Hermione and I woke up groaning from sleeping on the floor; with or without pillows it still wasn't very comfortable. We each took our showers and decided to meet in our common room.

I took my time in the shower, washed my hair and let the water ease the stiffness in my muscles. When I got out some forty-five minutes later I used a spell to dry my hair and walked to my room. I looked in my closet before deciding to wear a light weight, navy turtleneck and tight, dark jeans. It went well with my dark hair and pale skin. I'd wear a light jacket outside because it was getting colder. I didn't wear makeup so after I finished brushing my hair I was ready to go. Sadly, it was only eleven fifteen so I had another half hour to kill before I had to leave to meet Charlie at the gates.

So I tried to work on my Charms essay that was due Monday but ended up stroking Ice with my right hand while staring at the engagement ring on my left. I really didn't want to give the ring back to Charlie but the look on his face as he was giving it to me told me that he wanted to do it the right way and even though my mom knew it was basically an arranged marriage everyone else would want to know how he proposed and I didn't want to have to make something up.

Hermione broke my trance at quarter till noon, thankfully. She had her own date with Victor or else she would be coming with me for moral support. I said good bye and good luck to Hermione, put Ice in her bag and went to meet Charlie at the gates. I was on autopilot all the way there so I was surprised when I saw Charlie standing at the gate waiting for me. I slowed my walk and took a deep breath to prepare myself. I gave Charlie a small smile as I approached.

Charlie frowned and asked, "Are you alright?"

Now it was my turn to frown, "I'm fine, why? Don't I look okay?" I didn't want to preen but I thought I looked pretty damn good.

"You look great just a little frazzled," Charlie replied. "Are you ready to meet the in-laws?"

I sighed. "I've already met your mother and made a mess of that so this can't be much worse." I probably totally jinxed myself.

Charlie smiled faintly. "It wasn't you fault; Mum's just a little nuts when it comes to family."

I shrugged because I didn't really know what to say and we'd entered Hogsmeade. To my surprise Charlie grabbed my left hand and held it as we walked even though there were students everywhere. Luckily, while some noticed Charlie and some even noticed me holding his hand, not many recognized me as a student.

Soon we were at the Three Broomsticks and I felt Ice stiffen at the sheer number of people in the place. Honestly, I didn't like it much either but I put my hand in Ice's bag to try and calm her down just the same.

Next thing I knew Charlie let go of my hand and was hugging a man slightly shorter with a lot less muscle and thinning red hair with a softly said, "Dad." After a moment they pulled apart and Charlie turned back to me. "Dad this is Allyssa; Allyssa this is my dad."

I gave a small smile as he offered his hand and I shook it, briefly. This was going to be hard if Ice tensed every time I shook someone's hand. Mr. Weasley let go of my hand only to put a hand on my shoulder. "Come along, we reserved a room," he guided me through the main room to one of the side rooms. I really had to put a little bit of distance between Ice and Mr. Weasley or it wasn't going to be pretty.

I reached behind me for Charlie's hand. He seemed to understand because he grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him. All Mr. Weasley did was look behind him and smile when he saw our intertwined hands. I sighed and said, quietly, "If Ice doesn't relax than this might not go very well."

"You brought her? I thought she was okay to stay in your room alone for short periods of time." Charlie asked.

"I brought her because she's going to need to be comfortable with your family and if this goes bad I'd rather have her here with me instead of alone somewhere else so that I know what she's doing." I had thought about not taking her but she didn't like that idea very much.

Charlie didn't reply because we were in a room with his brothers. I stepped away a little as, one by one, Charlie's brothers gave him a hug and teased him about something. Finally, greetings were over and Charlie looked over his brothers. He frowned and asked, "Where's Ron? He's supposed to be here."

I could tell the twins were about to make a smart assed comment when we heard a voice behind us say, "I'm here. Sorry I'm late, mate. Lav-Lav here was running a little late when I came to pick her up."

Charlie and I turned around to see a red-headed boy with broad shoulders and a few muscles his clothes tried to emphasis but they really just made him look ridiculous. Standing next to him was none other than Lavender Brown. She looked exactly the same as I'd last seen her except she was about seven months pregnant; same heavy makeup, low cut blouses and short skirts. The skirt was a little longer, probably because of her pregnancy.

As soon as she spotted me she started fuming. "You!" She yelled. "You little bitch! Do you know how humiliating you made my seventh year?"

I stepped away from the mad pregnant woman. Not only was her yelling upsetting Ice but her voice always rubbed her the wrong way. I was surprised when Charlie bellowed, "Shut up!" Then he turned to his youngest brother and said, "Does anyone else have their spouse with them, Ron? No, they don't because this is just for _family_. I won't have my fiancée insulted because yours is flinging accusations that have no ground."

Lavender blushed and looked at me and opened her mouth to say what I assumed would have been an apology had her gaze not been drawn to my bag. She paled and said softly, "You brought a _snake_ with you?" Her hand went protectively to her swollen stomach. Her question, of course, brought the room to silence and everyone's attention to me.

Charlie was about to say something but I cut him off with a shake of my head. I turned to Lavender and said, "You know, I was kind of hoping to at least get through introductions before you decided to make a scene." I turned my attention to the room as a whole. "Hello, my name is Allyssa Ashburn and no, I don't have a pet snake." I flipped open the top of the bag and Ice flew out. Everyone in the room gasped and took a step back. "I _do_ have a pet dragon, though. And if any of you tell anyone I will be very unhappy." I said the last part mostly to Lavender. Ice perched on my shoulder.

I heard two identical looked people say in unison, "Wicked."

I turned toward the twins and they stepped forward, slowly. All four eyes on Ice. They paused after the step and looked between Ice and me. I smiled and said, "She's fine."

They both grinned and looked me up and down. "Well, we don't see the big problem with this law if everyone gets as lucky as Charlie," it was slightly discombobulating how both of them talked in perfect unison. "I'm Fred," the one on the right said. "And I'm George," the one on the left finished.

I smiled again and said, "I'm Allyssa and this is Ice." To my surprise Ice flew off my shoulder and landed softly on George's. He tensed and didn't move a muscle. "Relax, I know that sounds crazy but she likes you and won't hurt you. She knows you're nervous and that makes her uneasy."

I watched as George took several deep breaths before saying, "I'm a bit hard of hearing on that side, luv, so if you're trying to tell me how sexy I look I know but I'd still like to hear it so how about you go to the other side?"

Ice didn't fly to the other side; instead she moved George's hair out of the way so I could see the hole where George's ear should have been. She looked at me with sad eyes before flying over to Fred and moved his hair to see is ear. Fred joked back, "Apparently she likes blokes with both years, my dear brother."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth I was assaulted by Ice's emotions. _Sad. Hurt. Heal?_ Somehow I knew what Ice wanted from me so I nodded. She flew back to George and carefully put her head about three inches from where George's ear should have been. She carefully blew on his old injury. We all saw a light and watched as she healed him completely. By the time she was done he had his ear back and I was feeling a little weak. I sat down in the chair closest to me and Charlie was immediately at my side.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked.

"I'm fine." I said to Charlie before turning to glare at Ice. "You know, you _have_ to warn me before you do something like that. I didn't even know you _could_ do that."

Ice flew over and landed on my shoulder. She nuzzled my cheek in apology. "Fine, you're forgiven," I caved.

The twins turned toward Charlie and said, "You know you're our favorite brother right? But if you ever hurt her we'll have to kick your arse." Then they came over to me, picked me up off the chair and gave me a hug at the same time. "Best sister-in-law ever," they said in unison.

"Hey, I've made you jumpers every year for Christmas and you never said that to me!" Lavender yelled in indignation.

One of the twins leaned down and whispered in my ear, "They're the same style as Ron's wearing right now." The other twin finished by saying, "So we tested our shrink potions on them and sell them as dog clothes/toys."

I stifled my laughter by biting the inside of my cheek. The twins put me down and another tall, red headed, muscled Weasley stepped forward. He had his long hair tied back in a thong, a dragon tooth ear ring in one ear and three parallel scars running down one side of his face. He had his eyes trained on Ice as he slowly approached. She didn't move from her protective position on my shoulder so he stopped a couple steps away. "I'm Bill," he said simply.

I smiled and said, "I'm Allyssa, nice to meet you." We didn't shake hands or say anything else.

Next a shorter, scrawnier red head stepped forward. "You know you're supposed to fill out forms before you can have a magical pet? I'm Percy Weasley."

I gawked. Was he serious?"

Charlie stepped in by saying, "Ice is an Impression Dragon. The exception to almost every rule, remember Perc?"

Percy thought for a moment before saying, "Impressions don't have healing abilities, Charlie."

I shook my head. "No magical animal has that kind of healing abilities except Phoenixes and their tears only work on fresh wounds; no recorded healing abilities anyway. There's so little known about Impressions is it a surprise they can do things we don't know about?"

Percy looked surprised by my knowledge and finally conceded with a nod before backing up again. Next Ron stepped up with Lavender, heedless of Ice who wasn't happy about that at all. They stopped six inches from me and Ice was about to freeze them and then shatter them so I took a step backward. Ron and Lavender followed so I took another step backward. Before they could follow Charlie stepped in between us.

That was when Ron starting yelling. "I can't believe you let her get away with that! She insulted Mum and Lavender and threatened the whole room! Lavender says she even made her last year a living Hell! I know you don't like Lavender but she's still family!"

Charlie was about to start yelling but I was pissed and tired so I pushed him aside and _I_ started yelling. "Charlie doesn't _let_ me do anything! I did _not_ insult or threaten your mother! She called me a bitch and what did I do? I left the room so the she didn't get hurt! I know you aren't overly bright and didn't finish school but do you know anything about Impressions? They're extremely protective so if I'm threatened, insulted or annoyed they're ready to put someone in serious pain. As for Lavender she's always been a bitch to me because I wouldn't gossip with her, wouldn't let her in on my secret and hung out with Hermione. Yes the same Hermione you tried to control and cheated on! As for Lavender's seventh year, well, it was the only way I could let off steam! Do you-" I was interrupted by the sound of screaming outside the Three Broomsticks. I ran to the window.

"_What the hell?_"

**A/N: I know it's mean but I haven't done a cliffy in a while if ever so I felt the need to put on in. Plus, it might not seem like a long chapter to you but it has a lot of stuff in it so be happy! And make me ecstatic by reviewing! Please!**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

There in the middle of the street, in Hogsmeade was Huo and all around people were screaming because he looked pissed.

"Well, shit," I said out loud before turning around to face the room. As soon as I turned around I realized Ice wasn't on my shoulder because she was on the ground snarling at Ron and Lavender. Everyone else in the room didn't have a clue as to what they should be doing. Actually, the twins were at Ice's side facing off with their youngest brother and his fiancée. "Oh, for Pete's sake, Ice! We don't have time for this; calm down," I said in exasperation, breaking everyone else out of their trance as well.

Ice looked at me and seemed to sigh before snarling on more time at Ron and Lavender and flying over to my shoulder. I walked over to Ron and Lavender; purely out of necessity you understand, they _were_ standing in front of the door. "Move! Can't you tell I have bigger problems to deal with? Literally!"

They quickly shuffled out of the way, their eyes on Ice the whole time. As soon as they were out of the way I blew past them. The main room was full of cowering people hiding behind chairs and tables. I just scowled in a Snapely fashion; I thought this was supposed to me the magical community? Yet they only think dragons are cool when they're in a cage, apparently. Someone looked up and gasped when they saw Ice on my shoulder. As I approached the door I heard a feminine voice say, "You can't go out there. That _thing_ is huge and blood red and ready to ki-" the woman stopped when she looked up and saw Ice on my shoulder then her voice turned furious, "You little bitch! You brought that monster down on us all!"

I felt another flash of rage and quickly tried to smother it. Suddenly I heard Charlie behind me saying, "If she brought it here to kill people why would she be going out there to stop it?"

That seemed to quiet the woman and I was tempted to turn and thank him but I just kept walking toward the door. As soon as I stepped foot outside Huo stopped moving completely for a moment while he just looked at me. After a couple seconds he just laid his head down. I walked over to him and gently stroked his scales by one of his magnificent golden eyes. "You and Ice need to realize that I don't need rescuing," I told him softly.

"You! Don't you know what a bowing signifies? You should have a firmer hold on your emotions," a familiar voice sounded from my left. There was Tristan, standing beside Huo. His tone changed as he said, "Sir, may I ask what is going on?"

I turned to see that he was talking to Charlie who had just come out of the three Broomsticks followed quickly by all his brothers except Ron who was probably comforting Lavender. Charlie just shook his head. "I don't know what's going on. I've never seen any dragon besides a Tibetan Impression react to their master's emotions this strongly. Sure, they'll get agitated but not like this."

I thought about Charlie's words before turning to Ice who was perching innocently on my shoulder, "We have a lot to talk about when we get back to school missy." I turned to Bill who was still just inside the door, "You might want to check on Lavender, I don't know how far along she is but all the stress can't be good for her." All the Weasleys looked at me in shock but Bill nodded and went back to check on his brother's fiancée.

I sighed before carefully climbing onto Huo's back. "Well, Charlie, thank God we got that out of the way; it definitely would've made the wedding a disaster," I joked, not really caring who heard. "Tristan, you want a ride back to the castle?"

The Asian boy just shook his head. "I think I'll walk back with the Professor, it'll give me time to think of a way to talk myself out of trouble."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself. Fred? George? In the mood for a visit to the castle?"

"Absolutely!" They yelled in unison before cautiously climbing aboard.

"You know you have to fill out extensive paper work before you can have that as a pet, don't you?" Percy yelled from the ground.

"It's just as well he's not mine than isn't it?" I yelled down in reply as Huo took off with Ice flying right beside him.

**(I thought about stopping it here but I remembered that last chapter was a cliffy and it's been a while so I decided to give you a little more.)**

"You really are the best sister-in-law ever, you know?" One of the twins yelled over the wind.

"I don't think Ron agrees with you on that," I yelled in return.

The twins waited until we landed to reply. "Ron thinks that because he's the best friend and partner of Harry Potter he's better than the rest of us and Lavender reinforces the idea constantly."

I thought about what they were saying as we walking slowly toward the doors. "You know, I've yet to meet Harry Potter and I've been friends with Hermione and Ginny for years," I told them thoughtfully.

"The 'Golden 'Trio', as they used to be called, has separated-"

"That's not quite right, my dear brother," one twin corrected the other, "Ron and Harry are still quite close they've just pushed Hermione away."

"Quite right, George; ever since Hermione decided to finish school instead of become an Auror with them they've just pushed her away," Fred finished.

"Why would they do that? Hermione is amazing."

"She's bloody brilliant, that's what she is. After Ron and Hermione's break up things were tense between them. Harry tried to sort things out but he was too busy with training and trying to fix his own relationship with Ginny." George stopped and Fred continues, "When Harry and Ginny broke off their engagement things were tense between Hermione and Harry too. Ron seemed to think all women except Lavender were crazy so he didn't blame Harry."

"They've tried to patch things up but the problem with trios is that it's two against one. Besides, when Hermione was in school she strengthened old friendships and made new one with people like you," George finished.

I chuckled. "Being friends with me made it hard for her to be friends with anyone else, not impossible though because Ginny got in. I guess we made our own trio."

"Allyssa! What is going on?" I heard Hermione yell as she ran over to us. When she reached us seemed to suddenly realize the twins were with me. "What are you two doing here?"

"Hi, Hermione; I thought you were with Viktor?" I really didn't want to explain anything or everything to Hermione.

"Viktor? Krum?" The twins exclaimed together.

I turned to them and answered, "Yes, Viktor Krum. He's going to take over for Madame Hooch."

"Ron's going to be absolutely pissed when he hears," Fred said joyfully.

"Why would Ron be pissed about Viktor taking over for Hooch?"

The question was directed at the twins but it was Hermione that answered. "Ron's picture of his life is having a dozen or so children with Lavender, being an Auror until he feels like retiring and coming to Hogwarts to teach flying," she said with disgust. "After all, those who can't teach, right?"

"Hermione, in the Wizarding World those who can _teach_; the greatest Potions, Transfiguration and Charms Masters take on apprentices and pass on their knowledge or they teach at a school so they can do research for part of the year and they have materials and references at their finger tips. Plus, I think any school would rather have Viktor Krum whose life basically revolves around brooms and Quidditch than have Ronald Weasley who only got into Auror training because he's the best friend of Harry Potter and helped end the war by tagging along with him. Normal people, like you, couldn't take any more fighting after the war," I said, trying to talk sense into my friend.

"Thank you, Allyssa, for the unintentional compliment," Viktor said as he came up behind Hermione.

I just nodded and asked, "Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?"

That was when Hermione started glaring. "We were there for all of two seconds before someone came up to me saying, 'Thanks God you came to save us from the crazy girl with the dragons! Is Harry Potter on his way as well?' I just about burst out laughing until I realized she was serious. So I thought, 'Who do I know that has a dragon and was in Hogsmeade today?' Obviously there's only one answer to that question so I went to the Three Broomsticks where people were just starting to come outside. I talked to Bill who said you flew off on a dragon with Fred and George. I came back here and saw the blood red dragon and thought, 'So that's Huo?' and here I am. That _is_ Huo, isn't it? You haven't put your spell on any other dragons that you haven't told me about, have you?"

In all the years I've known Hermione she's only said that much, that fast once: when she was driving a muggle car in America on her way to meet my family for the first time. "Hermione, calm down. I will explain this exactly once and, no, you can't take notes.

"Lavender and Ron showed up late to the little family meeting thing. Lavender made me mad and I handled it, quite well if I do say so myself. Then she accused me of bringing my pet snake because of that little lie we started the Welcoming Feast my first year so I got mad and showed everyone Ice. For a couple minutes I'd shocked Lavender into silence so introductions started with the twins. Ice scared everyone half to death by healing George's ear, Percy said I needed to fill out paper work before I could have a magical pet so Charlie corrected him. I was introduced to Bill and then Ron started yelling so I got mad again. That's when _I_ started yelling so Ice somehow called Huo who succeeded in scaring the entire town people to death.

"I walked out and offered Tristan, you know the boy I told you about from the other school, a ride. He refused, opting to walk back with Charlie instead, I offered the twins a ride to the castle and they accepted. Percy yelled that I needed 'extensive' paper work before having Huo as a pet so I told him Huo didn't belong to me, off we went and, ta da, here we are."

Everyone stood gaping at me after I finished because I'd said all that really, really fast. Hermione and Viktor were probably gawking at the story itself. "Any questions?" I prompted.

Viktor was the first to recover and ask, "Vhy did you tell Lavender you had a pet snake?"

"Ice has been my secret for years and before this year I could count almost all people who know about her on one hand: Snape, McGonagall, Charlie, Hermione and Ginny. At the Welcoming Feast Lavender caught me feeding Ice under the table. She was very persistent in knowing why, it was annoying me and Ice was reacting very badly so I told her I had a man-eating snake that hadn't eaten yet. Lavender said I should've been put in Slytherin and has hated me with a passion ever since. Thought I'm pretty sure I more than made her realize the feeling is mutual with all the pranks Ginny and I pulled on her that year," I explained.

I felt the twins lean forward and whisper in my ear, "We love you already. If things don't work out with Charlie we're here to take his place, all you have to do is ask." I just about burst out laughing at their words.

While the twins were whispering in my ears Hermione was saying something I never thought I'd hear her say (I almost missed it because of the twins too), "Those pranks you two pulled were the best part of that year. I mean you shouldn't have done that one during exams but it wasn't like she was going to use her NEWTs anyway." That one mean comment in public made everyone, except me, gawk at her until her cheeks were scarlet.

"Come on, guys. We might as well go to mine and Hermione's rooms so we're there when the Headmistress, Snape, Charlie and the rest of the student body come looking for me," I said as I lead the way, not even bothering to try and hide Ice. Actually, I almost forgot to tell Huo to go back to Badglesarm before he followed us into the castle.

So the five of us waited in the common room for everyone to come and yell at me. Sadly, we weren't kept waiting long.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Five minutes after we'd arrived Lucy announced that Snape was requesting – demanding - entrance. He walked in and looked pissed. "What on Earth were you thinking?" he demanded as soon as the portrait door opened.

"It's not my fault, its Ron's fault," I said instantly. I'd figured out that Iced called Huo because I was mad and I was mad at Ron and Lavender and Ron brought Lavender, therefore everything was his fault. "I'll explain once everyone else gets here so you'll just have to wait. No pacing though, it gives Sam a headache," I warned. I could tell Snape was going to say something derogatory about my only normal pet until he actually looked at her. Sam and Ice were under the coffee table lying beside each other. So Snape just sighed and sat very stiffly in one of the chairs.

Less than two minutes later Lucy announced that Charlie, the Headmistress and, believe it or not, Kingsley Shacklebolt were waiting outside my door. I frowned as I looked around the common room before turning to Hermione, "I don't think we have enough chairs for everyone Hermione." My deadly serious tone caused Hermione to break out in a fit of giggles that escalated to full blown laughter. Just to annoy my friend I let our guests in before she had a chance to calm her almost hysterical laughter.

As soon as they stepped in everyone's gaze went immediately to Hermione who was trying to calm her laughter but had ended up giving herself the hiccups instead. I smiled and said brightly, "Good afternoon, Minister, Headmistress, Professor. I'm sorry but we don't seem to have enough chairs for everyone, if I'd known we were going to have so many guests I would've transfigured some extra," of course I'd said that only to increase Hermione's squeals.

"I'm sure we'll survive, Miss Ashburn. Now, would you mind telling us why there was a dragon in Hogsmeade this morning?" McGonagall said.

"Actually, Minerva, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to hear about how said dragon bowed to you, Miss Ashburn." Kinsley said politely.

"I guess I'll start there then. Is anyone else coming or can I start now?" I asked, ever the polite little school girl. Actually, I'm pretty sure I head Snape snort and Charlie trying to cover his laughter at my tone.

"I do believe everyone is here, Miss Ashburn," McGonagall said with an indulging smile.

"Well, I was outside walking, trying to calm down after a rather upsetting confrontation when Huo arrived with his school. Ice flew up and they introduced themselves. When they came down he bowed," it really wasn't a very exciting story.

"Now, by your professors' reaction I've been given the impression that you're usually quite calm, is that correct?" Kingsley asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Would you mind telling me why this occasion was different?" the minister asked carefully.

"Actually, sir, I was going to start from the beginning and go from there," I answered because I didn't want to repeat myself over and over. At Kingsley's nod I started at the beginning, giving only the bare facts. With each word I could see Snape getting madder and McGonagall becoming more confused, or disgusted, I couldn't really tell.

When I finished Kingsley stood up from his chair and said, "I do believe I shall talk to Mr. Weasley when I get back to the Ministry."

"With all due respect, sir, I don't really think that's necessary, he was about ready to wet himself when I left."

Kingsley shook his head. "I believe you can take care of yourself, Miss Ashburn. I need to talk to Weasley because he heard the screams and stood there with his fiancée. He is an Auror, Miss Ashburn; he's supposed to act like one, on or off duty."

I just nodded in understanding as the Minister of Magic walked out the portrait door. Next I turned to the Headmistress who seemed to be trying to ask a question, Snape on the other hand had started pacing. Hermione surprised us all by saying, "For the sake of Merlin, Snape! Let it out already before you kill yourself."

He didn't waste a second, "Weasley was always a dunderhead but I honestly didn't think he was _that_ stupid! He _did_ make it through Auror training after all. And to insult his soon-to-be-sister-in-law like that in front of his brother, with a freaking _dragon_ staring at him with bloodlust; I don't know if I'm more in awe of his stupidity or his bravado."

"Now, Severus, I know you never particularly liked Mr. Weasley but-" McGonagall tried to say.

"If Granger hadn't let him copy her homework half the time and helped him in class he would've blown up twice the cauldrons as Longbottom did," Snape interrupted.

"Yes, Professor, he's an idiotic dunderhead with no common sense, a pig of a wife and a reputation that precedes him, we get it. What I have to figure out is how I'm going to live with my secret out in the open and my engagement just waiting to hit the rumor mill, any ideas?" Honestly I was flipping out over this. We could find a thousand different ways to say Ron's an idiot but it still wouldn't change the fact that he is an idiot.

Of course everyone went absolutely silent and looked at me sympathetically, except for Snape because he still appeared to be fuming. Suddenly, I felt Charlie's hands come around my waist and pull me towards him. I tensed thinking, "_Hello,_ there's _other people_ in the room, a.k.a. this is _public,_ I'm not a big fan of _public displays of affection_! They're very sweet in _private_ but a little creepy in public because you're my _professor_ and have been for the past _five years._" Out loud Charlie was saying, "I'm sorry my brother is such an arse and I promise I'll do everything I can to make things easier for you."

I sighed. "I don't need _easy_ I just need _possible_ and I have a feeling that by tomorrow morning normal like won't be."

"I'll make a speech tomorrow morning explaining the dragons, maybe tonight at dinner if it's too bad," McGonagall promised.

"Thank you, Headmistress," I replied with genuine gratitude.

"We should all leave before the students get back from Hogsmeade," Snape suggested, probably hoping to give detentions and deduct points.

"I vish you luck, Allyssa. I vill do vhat I can to help," Victor promised after murmuring his good-bye to Hermione.

"Thank you Victor," I said quietly.

"We will all do what we can to help, Miss Ashburn," McGonagall promised as she left with Victor.

"Allyssa, I promised your mother I'd take care of you and I don't like breaking promises to my friends," Snape said solemnly as he followed Victor and the Headmistress out the door.

"Allyssa, we said we'd kick Charlie's arse if he hurt you so-" Fred started.

"Now we get to go kick Ron's arse because he turned you life upside down," George finished.

"Just don't kill him; I might want to do that myself by tomorrow. Check on Lavender and make sure she's okay," I said as they walked toward the door. I saw their identical expressions of confusion as they left.

Seconds after Lucy's portrait closed behind them Hermione said slowly, "Allyssa, you hate Lavender Brown with a passion, remember? Why do you want the twins to check on her?"

I shrugged. "I hate Lavender because she's a bitch, I don't hate her baby though; even though it'll probably turn into a snob in the near future right now it's innocent, no matter whom its parents are," I paused before saying, "I'm sorry for interrupting your date with Victor, Hermione."

She just waved it off. "We'll have more chances to go on dates. Right now I'm more worried about what's going on with you." Hermione looked behind me and said, "I'll give you two a minute."

I grimaced. I've always hated that sentence; it was such a cliché and in cheesy movies and books it was always followed by an argument or a proclamation of love and kissing, "Charlie, do you think you could let go of me now?"

"What? Oh, sorry," Charlie said but didn't release me. "Actually, I don't want to let go yet."

"Great," I said with heavy sarcasm. "Why not?"

"Just don't. I'm sorry all this happened because of Ron, he paused. "You know that if our engagement comes out you're moving into my rooms, right?"

My eyes widened in shock. _Move in with him? Is he insane?_ "Why would that happen?" I asked carefully, slowly.

"Because the fact that our engagement is a secret is the only reason it hasn't already happened," Charlie answered, sounding annoyed.

"How about we talk about it when –if – it happens, okay?" I asked cautiously.

Charlie sighed. "Fine," he said before releasing me. I slowly took a step forward and turned to face him. When I looked at his expression I felt like I'd been punched.

He stood up and took a step towards the door before I grabbed his arm. "Charlie look at me. I'm sixteen; I've never even had a boyfriend before. Suddenly, I'm engaged to be married. Charlie, if you haven't noticed I'm not a social butterfly, I have a pet dragon but you know what, I'm scared. Scared that I've completely alienated your mom, that I'll never get along with Ron or Lavender, of what my peers will do when they find out about Ice and our engagement, of moving in with you, of getting married; okay Charlie? I'm terrified of what has, might and will happen."

As soon as the words left my mouth Charlie pulled me into his arms and buried his face in my hair. Slowly, I wrapped my arms around his waist. "God, I'm sorry Allyssa," Charlie said harshly.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

Eventually Charlie left, leaving me thoroughly confused. Why would he be sorry? None of this was his fault; it wasn't like he made the stupid Marriage Law, or he did something to make Ron such a git or Lavender hate me so much, so what the hell was he sorry about?

Hermione came back down and said softly, "You know, maybe this Marriage Law won't turn out too bad, for us at least," she paused and sighed before saying, "I've known Charlie for years; he's always been the Weasley bachelor. He never brought a girl home for the holidays or home period, he'd joke about women with his brothers but I don't think he ever got serious with anyone. I know I'm probably not the best person to say this but he _cares_, Allyssa, he really does."

I shook my head slowly. That's not it, Hermione. Even _I_ can tell he cares, the problem isn't even how much he cares: it's _me_. How sad is it that I don't know how much I care? And the situation couldn't get any worse; the whole school probably knows about Huo by now, if not Ice, how are they going to react when they eventually find out about me and Charlie? I took a deep breath before turning and looking into my best friend's chocolate eyes and said, "Hermione I'm terrified of everything. How am I supposed to deal with all of this?" Hermione's eyes were filled with sympathy and understanding. I still hadn't shed a tear but I was _feeling everything _and I couldn't take it any more so I let go.

Everything in the room started shaking; Ice flew into my lap and nuzzled my cheek trying to calm me down. I'd been holding so much back for years that once the dam broke it all came rushing forward: the sad, angry, annoyed and even happy all came forward and fought to get free, to be _felt,_ really _felt._ It was all too much, eventually there was a flare before everything went still, silent, and all I felt before the darkness overwhelmed me was relief that I could feel after all these years.

**(Yes, I know I'm evil, get used to it.)**

**CPOV**

I walked out of Allyssa's rooms not sure what to feel. My fiancée had just admitted that she was scared of my family, moving in with me and marrying me. Normally, I would be terrified of this commitment but I was excited, I _wanted_ to marry Allyssa. Sure, she was my student but I didn't see it like that anymore, I wasn't doing this because Minerva thought it would be a good idea the fact that Allyssa was hurt though. I knew on some level that she wasn't scared because it was me she was marrying just the fact that she was getting married.

I sighed as I walked down the stairs toward my office; oblivious to the students I passed. I really did want Allyssa to move in so we could progress in a semi-normal fashion. Sometimes I really hate our situation – okay, most of the time. I walked into my rooms and froze because standing in the middle of my living room shaking her head at the state of things was my mother, Molly Weasley. "Mum," I greeted cautiously.

"Charlie, dear, this place is a mess, how do you live here?" She said as she turned to face me.

I looked around and shrugged, "Could be worse," and it had been a couple weeks ago when I'd trashed the place when Allyssa and that Tristan kid hit it off so well.

"No Charlie, I heard what happened with your brothers today and I forbid you to wed this girl, she has two dragons that she could send to kill you whenever she wants," Mum said, forgetting the mess all together.

"Mum, I'm a dragon trainer: I like dragons, besides, she only has one little one that's never hurt anyone in almost seven years," I reminded her.

"It almost hurt a lot of people today including Ron and Lavender. I don't want my grandchildren to be raised by a woman with a dragon."

"There are no grandchildren yet and there probably won't be for a while, she's sixteen! Lavender and Ron provoked her, just like you did when you met her. Did anyone happen to tell you she healed George's ear?" Why did everyone seem to have it out for Allyssa?

"Charlie, I don't like this young woman, she's rude, inconsiderate and mean. Lavender almost had a miscarriage because of her!"

"No she didn't, Bill told me she was fine after Allyssa sent him to check on her."

While Mum was trying to think of something else to blame on my fiancée Ronnikins stepped through my fire place, his face redder than his hair and eyes blazing. Before he could start yelling I loudly said, "Is it rant at Charlie day or blame Allyssa day because I didn't quite get the memo?" to no one in particular.

"Your bitch of a fiancée just causes me to go on probation! Kingsley was pissed because I stayed with my terrified, pregnant wife instead of running out to face the bloody dragon while I was off duty!" Ron exploded so Mum rushed over to comfort her baby boy.

_Bitch?_ _Did he call Allyssa a bitch?_ "The dragon wouldn't have come if you hadn't provoked Allyssa so much! Kingsley was pissed because people were screaming in terror and all you did was stand there with your whale of a fiancée looking like you were going to wet your pants. You didn't call for back up or try to keep people calm, you did _nothing_. You're lucky you didn't get fired, Ron," I fumed at the younger red head.

"Charles Weasley! How can you say about Ron and Lavender?" Mum said looking disgusted.

"So you, Ron _and_ Lavender can speak against Allyssa, _my _fiancée but I say one word against precious Lavender and you act like I killed her. Why do you like Lavender so much yet you detest Allyssa?"

Mum didn't hesitate for a second. "Lavender doesn't have a dragon, try to control my son or yell at me. Lavender keeps Ron happy, knits and is very supportive. Allyssa forced you to marry her, hasn't moved in with you yet, Charlie and you're planning on getting married during the holidays. No one has even met her parents yet!"

Okay, she's right, Lavender doesn't have a pet dragon but she does manipulate Ron and Mum started the yelling. Why does she think Lavender got pregnant? So she'd be glowing and fat on the wedding day? "Mum, in case you've forgotten, mine and Allyssa's engagement is a secret because she's my student, that's why she hasn't moved in. Her parents live across and ocean and I've met her guardian while she's at school, actually I work with him so I see him every day. We are planning to see her parents soon. Mum, you really shouldn't judge Allyssa before you get to know her and getting to know the real her might take a while. Now if you two will leave I have papers to grade," I said motioning to my desk where papers were haphazardly stacked.

Ron left sulkily but Mum had one last thing to say before she left, "Charlie, I don't think that girl is right for you, you need a girl like Lavender who will stay home and take care of the house."

I shook my head. "Mum, if I was married to a girl like Lavender I'd kill her or myself within a week, besides, I think Allyssa might just be perfect for me."

I couldn't help but chuckle at the horrified expression on my mother's face as she flued away.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

CPOV

Halfway through the first paper there was a loud banging on the door of my rooms. I sighed and looked at the mountainous stack of papers I had yet to grade before standing up and going to the door; to my surprise Hermione was standing there, chest heaving, eyes wide and wild with panic. Between gasps she managed, "Allyssa – hospital wing – Ice – come!""

It took a moment for my brain to make any sense of the five words. By the time Hermione's words sank in I was running through the halls and taking the stairs two at a time. _Why is Allyssa in the hospital wing? What does that have to do with Ice? _When I burst through the hospital wing doors, my gaze was immediately drawn to the circle of people that, instead of gathering close to the bed, were standing several feet from it, including Madam Pomfrey. I rushed over to the mediwitch and demanded, "What the hell is going on here?"

It was Snape that answered me. "Miss Granger ran in saying Miss Ashburn had lost consciousness after some type of episode involving accidental magic."

"So what's wrong with her?" I demanded, my heart pounding in my ears, stomach at my throat. _Why aren't they answering? They do know, don't they? Why wasn't I THERE when it happened?_

"We have had no luck finding out because of that blasted, over-protective pet of hers," Snape sneered.

"We thought that maybe because of your . . . relationship with Miss Ashburn, Ice might allow you to get close enough," Minerva explained.

"Has Hermione tried? I know Ice is quite fond of her," I asked, nervous. Although I hoped I was wrong, I was pretty sure that no matter how comfortable Ice was in my rooms the other night she wasn't going to let me anywhere near Allyssa when she was injured.

"Everyone has tried, Mister Weasley, but we're being cautious as to how hard we try due to this morning's incident," the Headmistress said quietly.

I nodded and everyone parted the protective ring around her enough so I could see her. Allyssa lay on her back with her arms by her sides, completely still except for her deep, even breathing. Her dark hair framed her unusually pale face. The deceptively small form of Ice lay carefully on her master's pillow, watching intently for any sign of movement. As I slowly approached, her gaze turned toward me and she made a small, pitiful noise. I heard gasps from behind me and looked over my shoulder to see Nitro walking through the gap that still remained in Allyssa's protective circle, making his way over. I glanced back at Ice to find that she'd sat up, and was carefully watching Nitro walk past me and over to Allyssa's bedside. He put his front paws on the bed and gently nudged Allyssa's hand with his nose. He made a low questioning noise in the back of his throat as he prodded her hand again; when he got no response, he turned and cast his blue, questioning eyes on me.

Carefully, I made my way over to Allyssa, eyes on Ice the whole time. Ice's violet eyes were trained on me yet she sat extremely still.

She looked unusually helpless with her petite form, pale skin and veiled eyes. "Allyssa? I need you to wake up, sweetheart," I whispered, knowing it wouldn't really work just because it was me saying it. Looking at her so helpless had me remembering everything about her and wishing with my entire being that she'd open those fiery, dark blue eyes that could see into my soul, that haunted my dreams, that I looked for everywhere because they reminded me of the velvet night sky lit by dragon fire just because it was me calling her name.

Of course, she didn't move; that would be too easy. I turned to Ice and met her gaze. "I can't do anything for her, Ice; I wish I could. Madam Pomfrey can, though, and that's what Allyssa needs right now. No one's going to make you leave," I swore to my fiancé's familiar.

She glanced between Allyssa and me before slowly moving into the bedside chair. To everyone's surprise, Nitro climbed up with her without even blinking.

Poppy came rushing over to tend to her new patient. I stepped back to allow Snape to help his honorary goddaughter. I sat heavily on the next bed and sighed; Hermione sat next to me and leaned against my shoulder. "So what happened, Hermione? How did she end up here?"

"She – I don't know. I've never seen her like that, ever. She wasn't… She wasn't _Allyssa_," Hermione said raggedly, sitting up and staring down at her restless hands.

"What do you mean, she wasn't Allyssa?" I asked, never even considering that Alyssa could be anyone but herself or vice versa.

"Allyssa is always in control; she doesn't fidget, she doesn't cry and she definitely doesn't almost destroy our rooms with accidental magic!" Hermione whispered, which in itself is odd. It sounded like she thought, by saying it quietly, the scene would reverse itself and everything would be the same again. "Hermione, what happened?" I asked carefully, taking my friend's delicate hands in my own.

Unsteadily, Hermione said, "Allyssa's had a hard couple months, everyone knows that, and I guess today just broke . . . . . her." Hermione's kind, tear filled chocolate eyes met my own she said, "Everything caught up with her at once and she lost control. Charlie, I'm not – No one -" Hermione took a deep breath and tried again, "Allyssa released a lot of magic today, Charlie, and no one knows what it's going to do to her. Charlie, Allyssa might not be the same ever again."

**A/N:** Okay, I deeply apologize for the late update and the short chapter on top of that but I've been extremely busy. On the bright side, I'm free in two weeks (maybe it's three, I'm not quite sure)! If you really have nothing else to do go read my other story called **More Danger to Power** and leave a review on both. I promise I do reply to all reviews that ask questions and usually pretty quickly. And if you really have nothing else to do, or you really like me, you should visit my blog at http :/ insidethemindof intelligence . wordpress . com/ I don't have any real posts up but I plan on posting little snippets of stories on there from time to time so if you want to just bookmark it or subscribe and just check from time to time that'd be great.


	24. Chapter 24

Okay, I'm still editing my story but I've decided what the hell what's one more chapter posted that I have to press a couple more buttons to replace, right? I mean it was finished all along it was just that it is unbetaed so I was hesitant to post it but after all of the reviews saying how disappointed everyone was that there was no new chapter I decided to post it anyway so no flames, please. Hey, it's a long chapter too, would you look at that. Chapter Twenty-Four

**Unbetaed.**

Allyssa was asleep for a week and slowly the students started to see a change in their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He began to withdraw, day by day, as the dark crescents under his eyes got darker and his eyes started to match his hair; his teaching became less hands-on and more by the book. The resident Potion's Master was also noticeably more distracted, twice over the course of the third year Hufflepuff students almost succeeded in blowing up the classroom. Everyone had heard the story of the colossal, red dragon in Hogsmeade and the girl that rode it back to school but no one knew her name and most assumed she'd been expelled.

Charlie was sitting by Allyssa's bedside for yet another night. Ice was huddled on his lap, tail curled around herself as if cold, her wings were limp against her back and seemed to have dulled from their normal, radiant blue, her head was laying heavily on her front claws and her eyes were drooping lethargically, not unlike the man's whose upon she was laying. Hearing footsteps in the otherwise silent Hospital Wing Charlie lifted his head to see two of his colleagues approaching. The Headmistress summoned two extra chairs. Carefully sitting across the bed from the Defense professor McGonagall said, "Charlie, Severus has received a letter from Miss Ashburn's family asking why their daughter hasn't been responding to their letters. Obviously, Severus responded by telling them why she's been unable to reply. They've demanded to see her immediately. As such they'll be here tomorrow morning. We've decided it's probably best if you and Severus were the ones to explain everything.

"Miss Granger and Mister Krum will cover your classes while you're occupied," the Transfiguration Mistress informed the red-head. "For Merlin's sake! Go get some sleep Charlie," she ordered harshly, her Scottish brogue showing through as she left the Hospital Wing.

Without a word Severus Snape grabbed the collar of the younger man's robes and forced him to stand. Instinctively, the young man's arms moved to cradle the small dragon before it could be harmed. "What-"

"I refuse to allow Allyssa's family to meet you for the first time looking like a hung-over drunkard. Their daughter is in a coma, I don't want them to worry about her fiancé's mental faculties as well." By the time Snape was finished with his rant they were in the Potion's classroom. He pushed Charlie into one of the desks. "Drink this and go to bed. The Ashburns will be here directly after breakfast." Snape pushed a potion in his former student's hand before retiring to his own quarters.

Charlie stood outside the gates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. With no warning a loud _crack_ echoed through the air as Severus Snape and four other people suddenly appeared.

There was a tall, broad shouldered man who looked to be in his late forties with graying black hair, who Charlie assumed to be Allyssa's father. He was standing next to a woman with curly blond hair who appeared to be a few years younger than her husband. "No matter how many time you do that Severus I never quite get used to it," the blond woman was saying.

"Does everyone really travel like that?" A little blond boy asked as he held his head.

"It's one of the many ways people travel," Snape answered vaguely.

Charlie took a deep breath t o brace himself before taking a step forward and saying, "Hello, I'm Charlie Weasley."

Everything stopped. The woman turned to look at him with eyes almost exactly like her daughter's. "Hello Professor Weasley, we've heard a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Please, call me Charlie," he never really had warmed up to his title no matter how many times a day he was addressed as such.

She nodded and said, "I'm Nelle, this is my husband, Matt, our older son, Jeremy, and our younger son, Tony."

Charlie stepped forward to shake Matt's hand almost surprised by the smile he was met with, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Charlie. We've heard so much about you from Allyssa and then Severus as well." The older man leaned forward and said in confidence, "From what little we know about what's going on, everyone knows none of it is your fault, son." With a fatherly pat on the arm Charlie was released to move on to the next Ashburn.

"Charlie Weasley," he offered, extending his hand to the eldest Ashburn child. The hand had a multitude of calluses and scars from burns, hexes, jinxes and cuts alike and Jeremy Ashburn seemed to inspect everyone before accepting the proffered hand with a small smile so like his sister's it made Charlie _ache_. "Jeremy Ashburn, it's nice to meet you and see all of this after hearing about it for so long, even if it under such deplorable circumstances."

Charlie nodded and released the younger man's hand to move on to his younger brother. Who, when Charlie approached, was practically jumping up and down with excitement. "Do you _really_ work with dragons? Allyssa said you did."

"I used to before I came here to teach," he told the little boy with a fond smile.

"Why would you ever leave a job like that to _teach_? I mean, unless you were working with puny dragons like Ice, but then Ice is still pretty cool," the youngest Ashburn continued as they walked through the gates.

"Well, there was a really big war here and lots of people died and after it was over Mum wanted everyone close and safe. Let's just say that my mum got the school's headmistress to back her up by saying they really needed a Defense professor and I gave in because I couldn't stand anymore nagging," Charlie admitted freely.

"I also believe it might've had something to do with the fact that there was a rare dragon living at the school too that might've had some effect," Snape said, speaking for the first time since the introductions.

Charlie sent a glare at the older man but shrugged it off. It _had_ been part of his decision to take the job, but not really because he wanted to be close to Ice but because he wanted to make sure no one, including Allyssa, got hurt by her.

"So did you go to Hogwarts too?" Mr. Ashburn asked.

"Yeah, along with everyone else my family."

They were standing at the castle doors and when Charlie pushed open the massive doors with apparent ease Jeremy asked, "Do the doors have some type of charm on them to make them lighter?"

The question made both professors pause and really look at the great doors for the first time since their first year. "I'd assume so but the doors have been there thousands of years and, as far as I know, if there one it's never had to be recast," Charlie eventually answered. "Though, after the war, almost everything had to be repaired or replaced so if you really wanted to know you could ask Professor Flitwick."

"Hmm," was all the response Jeremy gave before lapsing into silence once again.

As the small group got closer to the Hospital Wing the levity began to fade until Mr. Ashburn finally said, "What exactly is wrong with Allyssa?"

"Allyssa lost control of her magic when she was in great emotional distress and due to her previous tight control on her emotions and magic there was a rebound where too much magic was released too fast. Allyssa has been unconscious since."

"_Allyssa has emotions_? Why did no one inform me of this? What upset her enough to let those back?" Tony asked innocently.

Snape snorted. "Actually-"

"She saw someone very irritating that she hadn't seen in a very long time," Charlie interrupted.

"Why did she see this person? Normally Allyssa goes out of her way to avoid people she finds extremely annoying because of Ice," Mrs. Ashburn asked.

Looking at the red haired man Snape raised an eyebrow knowing that he'd have to give them the full story but he was saved because just then they arrived outside the wide double doors to their destination. Charlie helped the door of the pristine white room for his fiancée's family, each nodding their thanks. Immediately the Hogwarts medi-witch appeared from behind one of the many bed curtains. "This way," she directed the family to their daughter.

Potion stained fingers caught Charlie's wrist before he could follow the family. "You spend enough time witting beside that bed drowning in self-misery. What I want to know is why you lied to them. They're going to find out the truth either way, no matter who it is who that tells them. It shows bad faith to lie to your future in-laws, Mr. Weasley."

Charlie sighed, running his fingers through his hair that was almost begging to be cut before dropping his hand to his side, limp. "I know, I know. That was stupid. I will tell them the truth, the whole truth; I just couldn't do it before they at least saw her."

As they slowly approached the bed Charlie had become very familiar with over the past week they heard Poppy explaining why the sudden burst of uncontrolled magic had sent Allyssa into a coma, how they were caring for her and what they were doing to try to wake her up.

"Why does Ice look sick too?" Tony asked when he saw Charlie.

Smiling fondly at the small boy he asked, "Has Allyssa ever explained the bond she and Ice have?" At the boy's eager nod Charlie continued, "Through the bond magic is transferred, back and forth, all the time and because Allyssa is in a coma and her magical core is pretty much shut down except for basic functions Ice isn't getting the normal magical transference she's used to so she's slowly getting weaker."

"Based on that couldn't Ice do something to wake Allyssa up? Or if you were to give Ice something she could transfer it to Allyssa and it would wake her up?" It was Jeremy that asked the question from his position in the Gryffindor colored, cushioned chair beside his sister's hospital bed.

"Ice wouldn't let anyone close to Allyssa for twenty minutes after she passed out and, based on how long Ice went without a Master before Allyssa found her, I'd say that she's been trying everything she can to wake Allyssa. As for giving something to Ice in hopes that it would wake Allyssa, while we know that Ice's emotions and feelings affect Allyssa it hasn't been proven that potions given to one affect the other. The other problem with that is simply just _what_ to give her; there's so little we don't know that we couldn't even begin to guess what to give them," Charlie explained, relaxing into professor mode as he talked about his favorite subject and one of its most fascinating aspects.

"So all we know about what's going on with Allyssa is that a) she had some kind of severe emotional distress, b) the distress was triggered by someone she found irritating, c) the emotional distress caused her lose control of her magic which resulted in Allyssa being in a coma, oh, and d) no one has any idea how to wake her up. Did I forget anything?" Mrs. Ashburn said in a voice so like the one Allyssa used with Ron, Lavender and Mrs. Weasley he saw Snape's and felt his own lips twitch slightly upward in a sad smile.

Tony raised his hand and when Nelle saw her youngest child she deflated and tears pooled in her dark blue eyes, "What did I forget Tony?" Her voice was crackling with pain and sorrow.

"You forgot about Ice," for a second her face dropped even lower as she looked at her daughter's pet curled on top of the white blankets in a peaceful illusion, "but you also forgot that magic is awesome, so everything'll be okay." Everyone laughed or smiled endearingly at the little boy as he got out of his chair and went to hug his mother. "So no crying, Allyssa won't have it."

Charlie cleared his throat after all laughter had passed. "Hermione's waiting in her and Allyssa's rooms if you want to head there now, they're much more comfortable and private," he offered. "Madam Pomfrey will notify us as soon as there's any change at all, I promise."

Everyone nodded and the professors led the way through the ancient halls. What should've been a five minute walk turned into fifteen, though, due to Tony wanting to stop and talk to all the portraits along the way. Most were flattered and when he gave a "I'll be back" to the more interesting ones sometimes a wall-wide argument would break out over whom he'd been talking to. Surprisingly few students noticed the small family being led around by the two professors and being followed by an irate Mr. Filch threatening a repeat of Umbridge's reign if the portraits' didn't "stop their bloody paint peeling".

Soon enough they arrived at Lucy's portrait. "Hello Professor Weasley, Professor Snape. Is Allyssa fairing any better today?"

Mournfully Charlie shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Lucy. This is Allyssa's family: her mother, Nelle, her father Matt, her older brother Jeremy, and her younger brother Tony. We're here to see Hermione, please."

After a low curtsy Lucy said, "It's nice to meet you all, even under such dreadful circumstances. Hermione's been expecting you for a while now." Another, smaller curtsy and the portrait door swung open.

Immediately after the door swung open Charlie's legs were attacked by a black and white fur ball with a puffy tail. "Sam, I'll take you to see them later okay? But look, right now, I've brought _Ashburns!"_ Charlie picked up the small dog and turned her around to look at her mistress's family. Still only whimpers came from the small animal so Charlie cradled it and moved to sit in his accustomed seat.

"She's been like that all morning, but I spent over an hour outside with her and twice that in the Hospital Wing but she still didn't settle down so I brought her back here and it just got worse," Hermione said after she'd said her greetings to the Ashburns.

"Did you take her to Hagrid while you were outside?" Snape asked as he sat down in a stiff backed, padded chair.

"No, why?"

"Sam is Allyssa's familiar, is she not? While I'm not an expert on the subject, I do believe there is some correlation between the familiar and the state of the witch or wizard. Hagrid knows more on the subject so I was wondering if you'd asked him," Snape said with a sneer.

"Don't get everyone worked up, Snape. Sam has been like this all week, besides if something was going on don't you think Ice would've shown signs as well?"

"True enough," the Potions' Master conceded.

"Why do you use portraits as doors?" Tony blurted.

"So that no one can get in the rooms without permission or a password," Hermione answered automatically.

"Why don't you just use keys like n-muggles?" Tony insisted.

"In some cases that would be okay but for places like common rooms where a fourth of the school would have to have a key it would get to be a real pain, especially if it was spelled so that every single person had to use their own key to get in," Charlie explained.

"How are a familiar and its master connected?" Jeremy asked thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"You said earlier that Ice and Allyssa were connected through Allyssa's magical core, is the connection between Allyssa and Sam the same?" Jeremy clarified.

"No, it's not. The bond with a familiar, while it does involve magic, isn't through the magical core itself. The connection with a familiar is through the soul and the magic transferred is one way and minimal due to the fact that it is soul bond and the fact familiars can be non-magical so if they were to get too much magic they would probably die. Ice's connection with Allyssa is through the magical core alone on Allyssa's part and magical core and soul on Ice's part. The reason they're different is because Ice couldn't live without Allyssa but Allyssa could live without Ice. The soul bond between familiar and person isn't as strong because they could both live without one another." _Why couldn't there be a kid this interested during class?_ Both professors were thinking.

"So actually it is possible that Sam is getting messages Ice isn't, right?" Jeremy asked looking at the small dog curled up on Charlie's lap.

"Yes, I guess it does. I never really thought of it that way," Charlie frowned as he also looked down at the black and white fur ball on his lap. "She seems to have calmed some so how about for now I tell the story explaining why we're all here in the first place?"

At the nods around that rooms Charlie started, his hands absently petting Sam's silky fur, "Allyssa and I met at the school's gate on our way to Hogsmeade…" He continued, telling them everything, from Lavender's outbursts to Ice's healing of George's ear. He explained about Huo and after he got to the part where Allyssa flew off with Fred and George he said, "Then Hermione ran in, started yelling and ran out again before anyone could make any sense of what she'd said."

At this Hermione blushed and said, "It's just as well too because I was cursing the towns people for thinking someone like Allyssa would attack people and then I think I was yelling at Ron because he's an auror and didn't do anything and then I realized that Allyssa wasn't there so I left. When I got back to Hogwarts Allyssa, Fred and George had just landed. Allyssa gave me a very fast summary of what had happened before they all dismounted Huo and we came here to wait for everyone else that was bound to come. Snape was the first, then Charlie, followed by Kingsley and McGonagall. Allyssa told everyone what happened and they were satisfied. Kingsley, the Minister of Magic, wasn't going to arrest her and was going to have a talk with Ron about neglecting his duties, on or off duty. So, everyone except Charlie left, promising to help out in any way they could now that Allyssa's secret was out of the bag," Hermione told her bit of the story with tears in her eyes and her knees drawn up to her chest, chin resting on her knees.

Charlie took a deep breath, his blue eyes resting on the floor, before starting again, "Everyone left and Hermione went upstairs leaving Allyssa and I alone. I told her that if somehow our engagement got out she'd be moving into my rooms because I didn't want her first night there to be our wedding night, that would just be way too awkward and weird and I honestly just want her there anyway. But she was shocked and didn't really understand. She didn't want to talk unless it was actually going to happen, so I let it go but I guess somehow she thought I was mad or something because she made this whole speech about how she was terrified of everything that was happening. And I just told her I was sorry and left." Charlie lifted his face to look at the ceiling and the flickering light from the candles set around caught the tear tracks running down his haggard face.

"After Charlie left," Hermione continued raggedly, "I came down to try and reassure her but it she didn't need it in the way I thought she did. She_ knew _Charlie cared and wasn't worried about that, she was worried that she didn't know what _she _was feeling, or how much. She told me that she was terrified of everything that was happening too. She just didn't know how to deal with everything crashing down at once.

"And then everything really did come crashing down at once, I think; all her barriers, all her walls just came crashing down and she lost control. Everything in the room started shaking and Ice flew over to try and comfort her but nothing worked and after a minute or two she passed out because it was simply too much. It was eerie, really, the desolation of seeing Allyssa lying there, on the floor, still and silent. Everything in the room had gone back to normal and nothing was broken but everything was just . . . wrong. When I tried to get close to make sure she was okay Ice wouldn't let me but I could see that she was still breathing and everything so I did the most logical thing I knew and went to get Madam Pomfrey." Hermione's chocolate, tear filled eyes were far away in a different time as she said, "Ice, not surprisingly, wouldn't let Madam Pomfrey anywhere near Allyssa either so I went to get Snape because she'd never really had any problem with him and if Madam Pomfrey couldn't treat someone he was the next best option while Madam Pomphrey took Allyssa to the Hospital Wing. Sadly, Snape didn't fare any better and almost got hurt in his attempt so I ran to get Charlie, our last hope.

"It didn't look like Charlie was going to have any better luck with Ice than the rest of us at first but then Charlie's familiar, Nitro, comes in and I guess says something to Ice and gets her back down. From there Charlie was able to convince Ice that Allyssa needed Madam Pomfrey's help and she went on the bedside chair, ever vigilant," Hermione finished with a sad smile.

Before the last word had even faded from the air Tony was out of his chair like a shot and hugging Hermione. Everyone's eyes widened before they started to chuckle, a needed levity in the tense air. Soon the chuckles became gales of laughter as Crookshanks, Hermione's familiar, decided he wanted to join the hug.

Dear beta,

The message at the bottom pretty much says I'm sorry for not updating and have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Go ahead and read it if you want to though.

**A/N: I'm very honestly, truly, absolutely, indubitably, unquestionably, acutely, amply, astonishingly, awfully, certainly, considerably, dearly, decidedly, deeply, eminently, emphatically, exaggeratedly, exceedingly, excessively, extensively, extraordinarily, extremely, greatly, highly, incredibly, indispensably, largely, notably, noticeably, powerfully, pressingly, prodigiously, profoundly, remarkably, substantially, superlatively, surpassingly, terribly, vastly sorry for not updating in over two months. I'm now also sorry for making you read all those words just to get to the point but I recently rediscovered thesaurus/dictionary . com and it's so much fun to use it so you can blame it on that. You can, however, thank PirateLuv32 for this chapter at this point in time. Honestly, after a ridiculous amount of time like that I don't mind people telling/urging me to update, in fact it actually gets the update out pretty quick. Didn't you all just LOVE Tony though? I think I did. I originally expected him to turn out like my little brother but he's SO much better, don't you think? So, ta da, there's your chapter, have a Happy/Merry Christmas and a very blessed, blissful, blithe, cheerful, chipper, chirpy, content, convivial, delightful, ecstatic, elated, exultant, gay, glad, gleeful, gratifying, jolly, joyous, jubilant, laughing, light, lively, mirthful, over joyous, peaceful, peppy, perky, playful, pleasant, pleasing, sparkling, sunny, thrilling, whimsical, jaunty, effervescent, fanciful, frolicsome, high-spirited, light-hearted, resilient, sprightly, upbeat and happy New Years! (Haha! Yeah, I know, evil, right? Sorry. Maybe.)**

**For those of you that missed it, I'm going through my story, starting with chapter one and going through and editing it so please don't beg me for a new chapter any time soon. I really do recommend to go through and read the edited chapters because I have no idea what will change and it could very well be something big (not to change the whole story line but still). I'll to get through the edits as fast as possible but please try and be patient. Bleh. I hate editing.**


	25. Chapter 25

**So, here is a long chapter as a thank you/apology.**

Chapter Twenty-Five

After hearing the story the Ashburns wanted to go visit Allyssa again, but Charlie convinced them to come to Hogsmeade with Severus and himself for lunch.

"Why isn't Hermione going to come?" Jeremy asked as they made their way toward the doors.

"She's covering Severus's classes for him," Charlie answered.

"Who's covering your classes?" Mrs. Ashburn asked as she carefully navigated the moving staircase.

"Vic – Professor Krum, the flying instructor, is covering for me."

"Why do you need a flying instructor? Do you teach kids how to grow wings or something?" Jeremy asked, earning him a quizzical look from Charlie and an amused glance from Severus.

"No, Professor Krum teaches the first years how to ride a broomstick; he also acts as a referee for quidditch matches," Charlie clarified.

"You really fly on broomsticks, like the witches in cheesy cartoons?" Tony asked, laughing.

"Yeah." Charlie frowned, "Allyssa never told you about any of this?"

Mrs. Ashburn gave him a sad smile. "Allyssa liked to keep the two halves of her life separate. She never really talked about what she was learning in school, or gave any specifics; the most we could ever get out her was that she was doing well and a little bit of information about her friends, so that she didn't look secretive about who was sending her letters over the summer, not that she ever got that many." Mrs. Ashburn gave a mournful chuckle, "Honestly, I get more information from Severus's letters than I ever have Allyssa's."

Charlie nodded, trying to remember Allyssa ever talking about her home life and coming up empty.

Finally, they exited the front doors. The six of them continued on the path in silence until the little village came into view. Unsurprisingly, it was Tony that broke the silence by asking a question, "So, do you have to pretend to be muggles now?"

"No, Hogsmeade is a magical community; everyone that lives there has magic, or at least grew up in a magical family," Severus answered.

"Cool. So there's lots of wizard shops and stuff?" Tony asked his pace quickening with excitement.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. After lunch I'll take you to some of the better ones, if you want," Charlie offered.

"Awesome! Hear that Jeremy? We get to go to wizard shops!" the little boy exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air.

"Sure, but what good will it do us? All that stuff needs magic to work, it's only good here, in the wizard world," Jeremy responded, bitter.

Charlie frowned down at the shorter boy. "That's not true. Magic works no matter where you are, but it's safer to use in the wizarding world so we don't expose ourselves to muggles." Charlie turned back to Tony, who had sobered with his brother's comment, "My brothers run a store that sells premade charms, if you want, I'll take you there and you can pick something out."

Tony was awed by the man standing in front of him. Not only had he worked with _dragons, _but he was offering to buy him a premade charm so he could do magic? "Are you really going to marry my sister?" Tony asked innocently.

The question stopped everyone in their tracks. Sure, they all knew that it was going to happen, that it had to happen if Allyssa was going to stay in the wizarding world – which she had to do because Ice couldn't live in the muggle world – but none of them had any desire to discuss it. All eyes flew to Charlie, whose face had come to match his hair. "Umm. . ." he said, eloquent. "Yes?" It came out more question than statement, so he cleared his throat and tried again, "Yes," he paused, "if she'll have me."

For some reason, Charlie's answer relaxed everyone enough so they could continue on their way.

"So, Charlie, you mentioned that your brothers ran a shop of some kind, what's the rest of your family like?" Mr. Ashburn asked, speaking for the first time since they'd left Hogwarts.

At the mention of his family Charlie's thoughts automatically turned to his mother and her unreasonable disapproval of Allyssa. Shaking his head, Charlie tried to focus on the question, "Well, there's Bill, my older brother, he's a curse breaker for Gringotts." Remembering his audience Charlie rushed to clarify, "A curse breaker dismantles wards and booby traps meant to keep people out, and Gringotts is the wizarding bank. Then, there's Percy. He works for the ministry. Fred and George, the twins, run the store in Diagon Alley. I'm sure you've heard of Ron, he's an auror. Then, there's -"

"What's an auror?" Tony asked, pronouncing it aura.

"Aurors are the people that arrest Dark Wizards, up hold the law, you know, stuff like that," Charlie shrugged, not really sure how to explain something so basic.

"They're like police officers?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, sure," Charlie replied, having no idea what a police officer was.

Just then, they arrived at the Three Broomsticks. Charlie motioned for everyone to sit at a table while he went and ordered butterbeers for everyone. With the help of the bartender Charlie was able to deliver all six butterbeers to the table in one trip.

Mrs. Ashburn looked affronted, "Jeremy and Tony are too young to drink. Besides, it's a little to drink, don't you think?"

Charlie was taken aback. Too young to drink? Next to him, Severus was smirking, enjoying his colleague's confusion; he wasn't cruel enough to let it last more than a few minutes though. "Nelle, this is butterbeer. It contains only the barest hint of alcohol, if any. However, if you would prefer the boys drink something else, might I suggest pumpkin juice?"

Mrs. Ashburn's red face contrasted sharply with her blonde hair. "No, no, butterbeer is fine." Her gaze flicked wildly across the room as if searching for something. "Charlie, you were in the middle of saying something when Tony interrupted to ask about the aurors, would you like to finish?"

"Ah, sure. Well, the only one of my siblings I haven't mentioned is Ginny, but I assume you've heard of her already," Charlie said lamely.

"Heard of her, yes, but, ah, what is she doing now? You know, after graduation," Mrs. Ashburn asked, still seeming embarrassed.

"She's playing for the Holyhead Harpies, an all-female professional quidditch team. She got married last summer to Blaise Zabini, another professional quidditch player," Charlie answered.

"How do you play quidditch?" Jeremy asked.

"Well," Charlie started before pausing to rub the back of his neck, trying to figure out how to explain the sport, "you have seven people on the field at a time: three Chasers, one Keeper, two Beaters, and one Seeker. There are four balls: two bludgers, the quaffle, and the snitch. The Beaters try and keep the bludgers away from their team by hitting them toward the other team. Bludgers are spelled to fly at the players at high speeds. The Chasers try and throw the quaffle into one of three hoops to get points. The Seeker catches the snitch, a small golden ball with wings that's wicked fast, before the other team's Seeker. When the snitch is caught the game ends."

"Why would you spell a ball to fly at people? Isn't that kind of dangerous?" Mrs. Ashburn asked, frowning.

Charlie shrugged. "A little."

"What if neither teams Seeker catches the snitch?" Tony asked.

Charlie shook his head, "It's against the rules for any player other than the Seeker to catch the Snitch."

"But what if nobody catches the Snitch?"

Charlie frowned, uncertain as to why the little boy was confused, "The game doesn't end until thee Snitch is caught."

"But what if you've reached your time limit and nobody's caught the snitch?" Tony pressed.

Charlie shook his head again, "There is no time limit in quidditch. The game can last three minutes, three hours, three days, or three months, as long as it takes for someone to catch the snitch."

"Awesome," Tony remarked, once again staring at Charlie in awe. "Will you teach me how to play?" Tony pleaded.

Charlie smiled, but shook his head, internally kicking himself for forgetting one of the most important details of the game. "Sorry, kiddo, quidditch is played several hundred feet above your head." Seeing the confused expressions on the faces around him Charlie clarified, "We play quidditch on brooms."

Instead of looking broken hearted like Charlie expected Tony looked like he had just cast his first spell. Seeing how excited the idea made the little boy Charlie couldn't help but chuckle and promise, "If it's okay with your parents, I'll take you to a match some time."

"_Really?_"

"Absolutely."

"Would Allyssa come with us?" Tony asked. "She doesn't really like sports, not muggle sports, anyway."

Charlie was once again shocked back into reality by an innocently asked question. Here he was, having lunch with his future in-laws while his fiancée lie in the hospital wing, in a coma. They had no idea when she would wake up – and what state she'd be in when she did – yet here he was making plans to take her little brothers shopping and to a quidditch game.

Another thought struck him as he considered Tony's question, did Allyssa like quidditch? He didn't know. They'd had one date and quidditch hadn't come up. "Maybe," Charlie finally answered.

For the rest of lunch the conversation remained politely benign. Severus spoke up as they were exiting the Three Broomsticks, "Charlie, why don't you take the boys on a tour of the village while I take Mr. and Mrs. Ashburn back to the castle?"

"Sure, sounds like a plan," Charlie said to the older man.

When the other adults were a sufficient distance away, Charlie turned to his two charges and said, "The only place to start a tour of Hogsmeade is Honeydukes. This way!"

"What's Honeydukes?" Jeremy asked as he fell into step with Charlie."

Charlie's eyes gained a mischievous gleam as he said, "You'll see."

And they did. They saw blood pops, lemon drops, Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans, fudge in every flavor imaginable and then some, chocolate frogs, sugar quills, and more, and due to Charlie's generosity, they to try everything they wanted to take home whatever they desired – as long as they promised not to show anyone else their more magical treats.

They continued like that all the way through the village: Charlie leading the way to the more interesting stores and getting the boys anything they wanted, with few exceptions. He did, however, refuse to buy the boys any books because they really wouldn't be of much use to them; he also refused them a broomstick for a similar reason.

Finally, with arms filled with bags, Charlie called a halt. "Well, that's everywhere. Ready to go back?"

"What about your brothers' store?" Tony asked around a mouthful of candy.

Charlie shook his head in amusement. "That's not here. We'll go another time."

The Ashburns left before dinner that evening. After their departure Charlie sat in Allyssa and Hermione's common room with Hermione, Sam on his lap and Ice curled around his shoulders.

Charlie sighed. "So, how was your day, Hermione?"

She shrugged, not looking up from her cup of tea. "It was fine. Snape didn't trust me to teach a practical lesson so he assigned a two foot essay. Due tomorrow."

Charlie flinched. "I bet that made you popular."

Again, she shrugged. "It doesn't really matter." Suddenly, Hermione's eyes were staring into Charlie as she asked, "How was your day with the Ashburns?"

Charlie sighed. "Fine. We talked." He smiled, remembering Tony's never ending questions, "Her brothers seemed to enjoy their day."

Hermione offered small smile, "Of course they did: they spent the day surrounded by magic and – from what I heard – eating candy from Honeydukes, what kid wouldn't enjoy themselves?" Hermione shook her head in amusement before looking off into the distance, her expression sobering, "Allyssa always said never bought her family any gifts from the wizarding world because she didn't want them to be unsatisfied with the world they were living in, always wishing for things they could never have. I've always thought that she hid this from them so that when she returned home for the holidays there wouldn't be anything there to remind her of this life." Hermione let out a breath before allowing her gaze to once again meet Charlie's, there were tears shining in them. "Charlie, what are we going to do? Madam Pomfrey is running out of ideas, and – and it's been a _week_ for Pete's sake! That's practically unheard of in the wizarding world, right?"

Charlie moved over to the couch where Hermione was sitting, carefully removing the animals from his person before doing so. He pulled her into his arms, making comforting noises as she cried into his shoulder. After she'd quietened her sobs he rested his cheek on the top of her head and said, "I don't know, 'Mione, I really don't know."

Sam, perhaps sensing the morose mood, jumped up onto the couch and proceeded to give both their faces thorough tongue baths.

"Someone seems to have regained their good mood," Charlie remarked, laughing, as he attempted to restrain the medium sized dog. Thinking back on his earlier conversation with his future brother-in-law, Charlie looked at the dog, considering. "What if Jeremy was right, and Sam's mood swings are connected to Allyssa?" he asked absently.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course Sam's bad mood is related to Allyssa; she must miss her."

Charlie shook his head, his brows furrowed in concentration. "No – well, yeah, I'm sure she does, too – but she's not in a bad mood all the time, not like Ice is." Charlie paused before hesitatingly saying, "What if Allyssa is still connected to Sam, but not Ice?"

Hermione's eyes widened as she realized what Charlie was saying, "That would mean she can't access her magical core, even subconsciously." Hermione stood and started pacing, talking as she walked, "That probably means there's some kind of block." Turn. "Or she's completely depleted her magical core." Turn. "How does this information help us?"

Hermione walked back and forth several times before speaking again. "Magical stimulators could be damaging if we're dealing with a mental black; Legilimency is dangerous on unconscious subjects – slightly illegal too – and, from what I know about Allyssa, her mind is probably a fortress even when she is in a coma; that leaves . . . waiting, just like we have been for the past week," Hermione finished as she collapsed back onto the couch.

**AN:**

**First, I want to thank everyone that signed the petition. Second, I want to apologize for the humongous gap between updates (I'm not going to promise that it won't happen again because I don't like lying) and tell you that you can all thank crazy1person2you3been4warned for convincing me to update.**

**Next (yes, I have a plan for the next chapter): Some random stuff (TBD), Ice and Sam become very important, and **_**Sleeping Beauty wakes up!**_


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

Allyssa's POV

I couldn't see anything through the darkness; there was no hint of light, nothing to give me a clue as to where I was. There was no movement to draw my attention, no shadows deeper or lighter than the surrounding gloom. Yet, I was at peace. I felt no emotion besides complete contentment.

I knew only the darkness, yet there was something stopping me from traveling deeper into it, stopping me from reaching an even deeper level of peace. For a time I was content to drift only within the confines of my tether, but, eventually, it wasn't enough.

Slowly, carefully, I tried to search for whatever was anchoring me so I could sever the tie and drift freely. Yet, when I found it, I couldn't cut it. I began to follow the tether toward its origin, hoping to find a weak point along the way. However, the line proved to be equally resistant to my manipulations all the way down.

When I arrived at the bottom I discovered a large knot, but as soon as I touched it the darkness – my wonderfully peaceful, dark haven – disappeared. It was replaced by a field of tall grass and a blue sky filled with puffy white clouds. I turned slowly in a circle and found that I could see nothing but green grass and blue sky. _Well, this is nice, but I much prefer my previous residence,_ I thought to myself, wondering how to get back.

Slowly, I became aware of the sensations of the wind blowing across my face making my hair tickle my face; the grass cushioning my feet and itching across my shins. Shocked, I looked down, and was surprised to see my hands, feet and body. It felt like I'd been without them for an eternity.

When my gaze returned to my surroundings I discovered that I was no longer alone; I'd been joined by a man with blond hair and kind blue eyes. "Hello," I said cautiously.

The boy – maybe _boy _isn't the _best _word choice because I'm pretty sure he was older than me – frowned at me. "Allyssa, what are you doing here?"

I looked around me before replying, "I don't know. Where is here?"

His frown deepened. "I was hoping you could tell me," he replied. He paused momentarily before asking, "Are you sure you don't recognize this place? Not from a childhood memory or even a favorite fantasy?"

I tried to summon a childhood memory of this place and came up blank, so I shook my head lamely.

"Hmm," was his only reply.

I took a moment to study him as he looked off into the distance. His blond hair was just long enough in the front to get into his eyes, and long enough in the back to sit on the nape of his neck; he had a touch of stubble on his cheeks, like he'd forgotten to shave that morning. His troubled blue eyes held shadows. Overall, he looked like a young man that had a lot on his mind, and didn't have to bother with mundane things like haircuts and shaving.

He ran a hand through his shaggy hair and drew my attention to the rest of him. He was taller than me, but I didn't find that odd. His broad shoulders and muscular arms filled out the t-shirt that hung loosely on the rest of his lean frame. His jeans were faded and well-worn. The lack of haircut and the thinness of his frame did nothing to detract from his good looks, but I was too preoccupied to really notice.

"Do you know how I get back?" I asked him.

"Do you know how you got here in the first place?" He countered.

"I was trying to untie the knot, but it just sent me here," I answered, frowning.

"What knot?"

"The knot of the tether."

"Allyssa, where are you trying to get back to?" he asked carefully.

"The Darkness. Where else would I go?" I asked, confusion flavoring my voice.

"Do you remember what you were doing_ before _you were in the Darkness? Think really hard," the boy pushed.

I tried to remember, I really did, but I still drew a blank. I shook my head in answer.

The boy walked over to me, slowly, like you would approach a skittish animal. When he was within arm's reach of me he sat down and patted the ground in front of him invitation. When I didn't move he sighed and said, "Allyssa, I need to come and sit with me. I'm not going to hurt you; I'm probably not even going to touch you."

Cautious, I sat down about a foot away from him and mirrored the way he had his legs crossed. "Close your eyes," he instructed, and, after a slight hesitation, I did. "Good. Now, I want you to concentrate. That tether you felt in the Darkness, can you still feel it?"

I tried to focus on the sound of his voice and nothing else. With a clear mind I delicately probed the depths of my consciousness for the tether. When I found it, grasped it delicately and nodded. "Good. Do you think you could follow it again?"

I opened my eyes, but maintained by hold on the tether. "Where do you think it leads? Where would it take me?" I asked.

He seemed to hesitate before answering. "I think. . . I think it'll take where you need to go. I hope that it takes you home."

I frowned at that. "If home is where I need to be, then why would I have left in the first place? Why didn't it take me there when I followed it the first time?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, Allyssa. I don't have all the answers, but I do know that the longer you stay here, the more likely it is that you won't be able to go back."

With that in mind, I once again closed my eyes and started to follow the tether. Before I could go too far, however, I opened my eyes to see the boy standing below me with his back to me. "I didn't get your name," I yell down.

He turns and looks up, and I can just barely make out the confused expression on his face as he says, "My name is Hudson, Allyssa."

I nod, close my eyes and continue following the tether. And, it may have been my imagination, but I could've sworn I heard a whisper say, "Like the bay."

CPOV

It was Thursday, ten days after the Ashburns' visit. I stood in front of my desk lecturing a group of Gryffindor and Slytherin forth years. I'd been up all night, sitting beside Allyssa. Sam had gotten everyone's hopes up with a sudden increase in energy and an extreme reluctance to leave the Hospital Wing. Still, it had turned out to be nothing more than a false alarm.

The bell rang and my students rushed out. I had a free period next, but I'd been banned from the Hospital during the day (something about not wanting anyone to find out about our engagement), so I would attempt to make headway in the stacks of ungraded papers sitting on my desk.

Half an hour later I was roused by a tapping sound. Looking around, I spotted a nondescript Barn Owl with a letter clasped in its beak. Automatically, I opened the window to let the bird inside.

The owl glided in and landed on the edge of my desk. I relieved the bird of its burden, and the familiar handwriting on the envelope was enough to fill me with a sense of urgency.

_ Charlie,_

_I just wanted to let you know that Madam Pomfrey has asked that I take Sam back to the rooms for the day; apparently Sam's been barking and disturbing her other patients. I'll drop her back off after dinner._

_Hermione_

I crumpled the note and tossed it into the rubbish bin. _So we're just assuming that she's still going to be . . . like that after dinner? Do you hold no hope that she'll wake between now and then, Hermione? Do you still have any hope at all, or do you simply go through the motions?_ I wanted to scream it at her, at them all, but what good would it do? Mum flooed incessantly, but I was never in my rooms longer than it took to shower and change; I had a pile of unopened letters in my rooms from everyone in the family, except Ron and Lavender. No, I burnt those as soon as I saw the flowery envelopes my youngest brothers' cow of a wife used (and insisted her Won-Won use as well).

It'd been 17 days now. Ten days since the Ashburns had come to Hogwarts; ten days of watching Sam's every move, trying to analyze her every twitch, every yawn; ten days of false alarms because Sam had refused to leave Allyssa's side; ten days of watching Ice, the most beautiful dragon I'd ever seen, grow weaker and sink into a depression so deep and dark she refused to eat and the only person she allowed close to Allyssa was me; ten days of being helpless.

I sat at my desk staring into space, completely unaware of time passing, of my free period ending and my sixth year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs shuffling in. Eventually, a Gryffindor girl spoke up, "Professor? Is everything alright?"

"Why wouldn't it be, Miss Lane?" I smiled sadly to myself before getting up to stand in front of my desk and starting my lecture, "Today we're going to continue our study of wards…"

We were halfway through the lesson when the doors slammed open to reveal none other than Hermione Granger, out of breath and smiling from ear to ear. "It's . . . Allyssa . . . she's . . . awake!"

I just managed to yell, _"Class dismissed!_" as I rushed out the doors.

We raced through the corridors, up and down moving staircases, never once stopping. The few students that were in the halls plastered themselves against the walls in order to stay out of our way. Some were cheeky enough to yell comments like, "Where's the fire, Professors?" after us, but most fell silent when they saw us coming. The school would probably be over flowing with rumors by lunch but I couldn't really find it in myself to care.

Hermione and I slowed to a fast walk when we entered the hall outside the Hospital Wing to catch our breath.

"Is she really awake?" I asked hesitantly.

Hermione smiled at me. "She really is. She hasn't said anything yet – or at least she hadn't when I went to get you – but her eyes were open and she was definitely conscious."

"Thank Merlin."

We entered the Hospital Wind to find that we were the last to arrive; all of the Ashburns were there, Snape was hovering near-by, Madam Pomfrey was fluttering about, even McGonagall stood there wringing her hands. Ignoring all of them, I rushed to Allyssa's side. Her eyes were closed once again, but she _felt_ different. I could sense that her magic was free once again even without seeing the renewed vitality in Ice.

Once she was satisfied that everything was in order Madam Pomfrey gave her prognosis, "She's just sleeping now, but she might stay that way for several hours or even overnight. The sleep will help her mind and magic catch up on the time they lost while she was in the coma."

I heard the Ashburns ask some questions but my gaze never left Allyssa's face. I mentally cataloged every difference: from the slight flush in her cheeks to her deeper, more relaxed breathing; from the feel of her magic filling the air around her to her hand lying on the pillow beside her head instead of limply at her side.

I think Snape and McGonagall left when it became clear that she wasn't going to wake up immediately. The Ashburns and Hermione must have left sometime after that because when I next look up it was dark and I was alone with Allyssa. Madam Pomfrey must have been close, though, because she walked over as soon as I moved. "Go to bed, Charlie. She'll still be here in the morning," the medi-witch said as she straightened Allyssa's covers.

"No, I-"

"It wasn't a suggestion, young man. Don't think for a minute I don't know how many nights you've spent in here over the last couple weeks, but not tonight-"

We both turned to stare at the dark-haired girl that was waking up for the first time in a long time. We watched as she stretched her delicate arms and as her dark blue eyes fluttered open. "Miss Ashburn, it is good to see you awake," Madam Pomfrey said before she bustled away.

"Allyssa," I breathed as I grabbed her hand.

Only to have it retched out of my grip and to have the blue eyes that I'd been yearning to see for so long look at me blankly. "Do I know you?" my fiancée said hoarsely.

**AN: Cliffhanger! At least she's awake, though, right? I wanted to thank all of you that signed the SOPA petition. It did get 100,000+ signatures, if anyone was wondering. (Does anyone know what's happening with the bill itself though? I'm kind of curious) **

**Have a Happy Summer and a great 4****th**** of July! I'll try not to leave you hanging for too long. I appreciate all reviews.**


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

APOV

At first the noise was deafening. Gradually, I began to recognize the sounds around me: someone crying out in pain, someone else's heart retching sobs, and others' laughter. _Where was I that all of these sounds mixed so freely?_

I fell away from reality for a time after that, drifting through oblivion. When I resurfaced I heard nothing and felt no lights against my eyelids, but I could _feel_ something, or someone, nearby. I concentrated on that feeling until I realized it was focused in my hand, or – more specifically – what was _holding_ my hand.

It was an . . . odd sensation. Whatever was wrapped around my hand was warm and slightly rough, but not unpleasantly so, and for some strange reason it made me feel safe in much the same way my black haven had. I laid there and analyzed the strange feeling my hand covering engendered. My thoughts froze every time it shifted, afraid it would be withdrawn. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that my feeling were illogical and, therefore, inexplicable; after arriving at my conclusion I allowed my mind to drift once again.

I got a few vague impressions of noises and time passing, but I didn't surface fully enough to get more than an incomplete memory of the sound of a strange noise that I knew was not produced by a human.

When I next emerged from my dark haven I knew without a doubt that I wouldn't be returning, that it was time to rejoin reality. So, I did the only thing there was to do: I took the plunge, I opened my eyes.

And immediately squeezed shut again as I threw my hands over my ears. As soon as I'd opened my eyes an alarm of some sort had started blaring. It lasted all of thirty seconds, but was replaced by the voice of an elderly-sounding woman saying, "Oh, Miss Ashburn! You're awake; you gave everyone a right scare, I'll have you know…"

I hesitantly peeked out of one eye to see a matronly woman puttering about, waving a stick around and nodding, seemingly satisfied with whatever color smoke or word appeared on the paper in front of her. She continued muttering to herself as she moved her stick over me in precise, practiced patterns.

After she'd finished she looked at me with a slight smile, "Well, I'd better go tell everyone the good news, hadn't I?" She turned away and walked past the curtain separating me from the rest of the room, disappearing from my sight.

I was still waiting on her and "everyone" when I fell asleep.

When I next awoke I didn't feel the light on the other side of my eyelids and all was quiet, except for two voices.

I recognized the voice of the woman with the stick – _wand,_ a voice in my head corrected me – saying "… for a minute I don't know how many nights you've spent in here over the last couple weeks, but not tonight."

Suddenly, it was as if my appendages started moving of their own accord; with no direction from me they started reaching above my head to relieve themselves of stiffness. Once all was still once again, I allowed my eyes to slowly open.

Relieved that I'd set off no alarms this time around, I surveyed my surroundings. I was surrounded by the color white: the blankets covering my, the curtain separating me form the rest of the room, the walls, even my own skin seemed extremely pale; against the achromatic background the splashes of color stood out sharply: the man's bright red hair and bright blue eyes; the small, familiar blue shape curled up on the bed next to me; and the deep, rick black fur of the large, predatory cat that occupied one of the two chairs by my bedside.

On some level I was aware of the woman saying something before leaving, but all of my attention was focused on the odd things around me (there were wilting flowers on the table to my left and packages with shiny wrappers on my right). In fact, I was so focused on trying read the words on the shiny foil that I was completely caught off guard when the red-haired man grabbed my hand and said, "Allyssa," like it was a prayer.

On instinct pulled my hand away. I looked at him for a moment trying to figure out why he was here. For some reason it didn't feel like he should be, but I couldn't think of a reason why not. Actually, I couldn't even think of how I knew this guy. Did I? "Do I know you?" I asked, only to find that my voice was so hoarse I could hardly understand myself.

The red-haired man didn't seem to have any trouble, because as soon as the question left my lips he looked heartbroken. Seconds later we heard a door slam open and several sets of footsteps running towards us. He turned to face the new comers with a determined look on his face.

The first to come through the curtain was a girl with curly brown hair and an excited expression on her face – _Hermione_, the voice in my head supplied. "Allyssa, thank Merlin you're okay," she said as she rushed in for a hug. "Don't ever, _ever_ do that again. I don't care if you fail your NEWTS, break your wand, set the school on fire, and lose an eye all in one day, you are _never _allowed to do _anything _like that _ever again_, understand?" the bushy, haired girl said as she held me at arm's length.

Despite the fact that I didn't know what my "newts" were, if I even had a wand, or what school she was talking about, I found myself laughing, which quickly turned into a coughing fit. The girl – _Hermione_, the voice corrected – immediately reached for a glass that had been obscured from my view by the flower vase and filled it with water from her wand before handing it to me.

The next person to step forward was a woman with blonde hair and tears in her blue eyes – _Mom,_ the voice told me. I didn't doubt the voice this time, this woman was my mother. I might have been missing my memories of her, but I still knew.

Directly behind her stood a man. He was balding around the crown of his head, there was several days' worth of growth on his face as is he'd been too tired or too stressed to bother shaving; the bags under his eyes attested to the former. _Dad_, I knew without the voice having to confirm it for me.

My mom rushed forward to grab my hand, and tears streamed down her cheeks as she said, "Oh, Ally. My baby. I love you so much." Dad stood back, but I knew Mom spoke for them both, she always had.

"I love you, too."

Two boys appeared on my other side. _Brothers: Jeremy and Tony,_ the voice enlightened me. The younger, shorter of the two was holding my hand in a vice grip. The taller, older one gave me a water smile and said, "Does this mean you'll take us for a ride on your dragon before we leave? I've always thought that the one thing wrong with Ice was that she wasn't big enough to ride."

At this the small figure on the bed with me lifted its head. It took me a moment to realize that this cat-sized creature was indeed a dragon. I gave it my best attempt at a smile and ran my hand over its head.

"How are you feeling, Miss Ashburn?" asked a sever man dressed in all black. _Snape._

"Alright," I managed in a hoarse whisper.

"Headache? Weakness? Any lasting effects?" the matronly woman asked as she returned, having heard the man's question and my answer.

"Memory loss," the redheaded man answered before I had a chance.

"Memory loss?" My mom asked, sounding breathless. "How do you know?"

The man looked away as he answered, "She didn't know who I was. She asked me if she knew me, like she'd never seen me before."

"Why hasn't she done that to anyone else?" Hermione asked

Instead of answering her question, the matronly woman, whom I realized must have been some kind of nurse, asked me, "Allyssa, what's your name?"

"Allyssa." That _is_ what everyone was calling me, after all.

"No, your full name, what's your full name?" the nurse clarified.

"Allyssa," I paused, trying to remember what she'd called me before, Miss . . . "Ashburn. Allyssa Ashburn."

"And your middle name?"

_Claire_, the voice told me. _It's Claire._

"Claire?" I said, it came out more of a question than a statement.

"Yes, and what month is it, Miss Ashburn?" the nurse pressed.

The man with the long nose dressed all in black interrupted before I even tried to answer, "That's a ridiculous memory test for someone that's been in a coma for over two weeks. Honestly, Poppy." Turning to me the man said, "Allyssa, name everyone in this room, addressing them as you normally would."

"Mom. Dad. Hermione," I said, pointing to each of them as I said their names in my hoarse whisper. "Tony and Jeremy." I hesitated on the imposing man in black. "Snape" seemed incomplete somehow. _Professor_, the voice supplied. "Professor Snape. Poppy," I didn't hesitate on the nurse, having heard her name only seconds earlier, but when I got to the red-haired man I drew a blank and my ever-helpful voice was strangely silent. "I don't know," I finally admitted.

"Hmm. Miss Ashburn, can you tell me where you are?"

I looked around, away from all the eyes I could feel staring at me. I waited for the voice in my head to give me the knowledge, but it didn't come. So, sighing in defeat, I said, "No."

"Hmm. You'd have failed regardless, of course. Not only were you unable to come up with Mr. Weasley's name, but you addressed Madam Pomfrey by her given name and mixed up your brothers' names." He paused to fold his arms across his chest before continuing, "The question, Miss Ashburn, is not why you are lacking your memories, but how you've come by such extensive knowledge – selective as it is – mere minutes after waking from a coma."

**AN: Two chapters in less than a month! It must be Christmas in July! (That sounds really egotistical, but I don't mean it that way; I've just always wanted I reason to say that.) I loved all the reviews on the last chapter, they made me feel loved (and they let me know how much all of you just LOVED that cliffhanger). Anyway, I hope everyone liked this chapter too. Don't forget to review, please.**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

APOV

I was kept in the room I woke up in for three additional days. During those three days I was visited by everyone that had been there when I awoke, except the red-haired man. They all seemed very distraught over my memory loss; in fact, it appeared I was least worried out of all of them. This seemed to worry them most of all. When asked I responded that I didn't know what I was missing so how could I miss it? In response, everyone started telling me as much as possible about my past, answering all of my questions eagerly.

So, three days after waking up learned that my name was Allyssa Claire Ashburn, my parents' names were Matt and Nelle Ashburn, and my brothers were Tony and Jeremy. Jeremy was the middle child, and Tony the youngest. I learned that the girl with the curly, brown hair, Hermione Granger, was my roommate and best friend; Professor Snape, the dour-looking man in black, was my potions' professor and has been looking out for me while I'm away from home. The nurse that was treating me was Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse.

All of that information had been volunteered, but no one bothered to mention the important stuff: where I was, what school they were talking about, why I was studying _potions_ (for some reason that sounded a little odd), where home was, or – most importantly – _how _I'd lost my memory. I tried to ask Hermione these questions the day after I woke up, only for her to go pale and rush off. No one else came to visit me that afternoon.

The next morning I woke up to find my mom sitting in the free chair at my bedside; the other chair was still occupied by the big, black cat. (I'd learned that it was a panther named Nitro. They said he wasn't my pet, but they wouldn't tell me who he belonged to.)

"Morning," I said as I slowly woke myself up.

"Good morning, sweetheart. How are you feeling?" she asked as she raised her hand to run her fingers through my hair.

"Okay," I answered as I tried to, subtly, lean away from her hand. As her hand returned to her lap, she gave me a wry look that told me she'd expected nothing less.

"That's good. Madam Pomfrey says you'll be released tomorrow, are you excited?"

I shrugged. No, I wasn't excited, I was terrified. What if I didn't remember everything I was supposed to? What if I don't recognize any of my friends, or my teachers? What if I accidently remember a teacher's _first _name, but not their _last _name, and use it in class? What if…? My list went on and on.

My mom sighed. "I know this is hard for you, it's hard for all of us, but, Ally, you're going to be fine. Sweetheart, you've got so many people here that care for you . . ." Mom blinked rapidly as if suppressing tears.

"Now," Mom said, her demeanor brightening as if she'd shaken off a dark cloud, "Hermione tells me you have some questions. Allyssa, I want you to just lay there and listen while I try to answer them as best I can, alright?"

She didn't wait for a response, she just started talking. She started telling me this ludicrous story about how I was witch, a spell-casting, broom-riding witch; how we were in my school, Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, a magic school where they taught Potions and Charms instead of Chemistry and Literature. On and on she went, telling me about my life, and I almost believed her, until she got to the part about me being engaged.

"Ally, just before you started school here there was a war in the Wizarding World; your friend Hermione fought in it, along with many other witches and wizards, and many died. To my understanding, however, the wizarding population had already started its decline before the war, but, obviously, the war did not help matters.

"The point in all of my rambling is: Allyssa, you're engaged-"

I burst out laughing. Here I'd been taking all this talk of wizards and witches seriously, how easy am I?

"Allyssa, this is not laughing matter!"

"Yes, of course, you're right," I said, trying to put on a serious face. "You still haven't gotten to the part about the aerodynamic pigs or the musically inclined, over-weight woman," this, of course, set me off again.

"Look at your hand! If you don't believe me, all you have to do is look at your hand," my mother exclaimed.

_My hand?_ "What does-" There was an engagement ring on my left hand.

I closed my eyes and let my head fall back against the pillows. I was wearing an engagement ring. "Who?" I asked without opening my eyes.

"His name is Charlie Weasley. You've met him, he was here when you woke up," Mom told me, cautious.

I opened my eyes to look at her I tried to remember everyone that was there that night. Mom, Dad, Tony, Jeremy, Hermione, Madam – "Wait. You mean the big, red-haired guy? _That's_ who I'm engaged to?"

"Yes, that's Char-"

I cut her off, "Then why couldn't I remember his name? I remembered Hermione's and Snape's, why not his?"

"I don't know, sweetie. No one's been able to make much sense of what you can and can't remember. Severus-"

Again, I cut her off, "What did the population statistics have to do with my engagement?"

My mom sighed, exasperated. "The only reason we're letting you go through with this crazy marriage is because the Ministry, the governing body of the British Wizarding World, has enacted a Marriage Law. The Law states that witches and wizards age 17 to 55 have to marry. There's something in there about how pure-bloods can't marry other pure-bloods, but that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me, or apply to you."

I let my eyes fall closed. "Is that the only reason?"

"What do you mean?"

I sat up and opened my eyes to find my vision blurred. "It's just a marriage of convenience, right? It's not real?"

"No, Ally, of course-"

"Then why hasn't he been back? If he cared for me, wouldn't he be here trying to get me to remember him?" I demanded as I blinked away my own tears.

"He wants to be, Ally, I swear, he does, but he can't," my mom assured me.

"Why not?"

"Because – because he works here. He's a professor; he's one of _your_ professors."

CPOV

_"Do I know you?"_

The words echoed in my head over and over, so many times until I wanted to scream. Instead, I immersed myself in my work: I gave my lectures with so much enthusiasm someone started a rumor that I'm on drugs; I returned homework everyone had given up hope of ever seeing again; and, when my eyes were too tired to focus on the barely-legible essays in front of me, I set to work on cleaning my rooms. When I finally stopped and called it a night in the wee hours of the morning, I was so exhausted I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

The next morning found me bleary-eyed, scruffy and ready to do it all over again.

I was fine, up until the end of third period when an owl started pecking at my classroom window. Expecting the worst, I jumped over my newly cleared desk – earning applause from my class – in order to get to the window and rip open the letter, which simply stated:

_Mr. Weasley,_

_ Please come to my office at your earliest convenience. We have much to discuss._

_My thanks,_

_Headmistress of Hogwarts_

_Minerva McGonagall_

I let out a sigh of relief and leaned my fore head against the cool glass, completely forgetting the class full of students behind me.

"Is- is everything alright, Professor Weasley?" a first year Ravenclaw asked, breaking the silence.

I turned around and smiled at my class. "Yep, everything's great." _Except for the fact that your fiancée doesn't even know who you are, yeah everything's just peachy,_ a snide voice corrected me.

The bell rang fifteen minutes later, dismissing everyone for lunch. I started making my way to the headmistress's office five minutes later. I didn't spare a glance for the students congesting the hallways, too preoccupied with my own thoughts to notice to notice any of the rule breaking going on around me.

As I was riding the staircase up it occurred to me that Allyssa may not want to stay in the Wizarding World, not if it meant having to marry a man she knew absolutely nothing about. It wasn't as if she had any real reason to stay, not anymore; with all her memories of her school years gone, so went her ties to Wizarding Britain.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley," Minerva greeted me, "thank you for answering my summons so promptly. I'm afraid that Miss Ashburn's situation is rather . . . delicate. We've decided to meet and discuss how to proceed."

Looking around the room I came to realize that "we" meant just about everyone involved, except Allyssa herself. Mr. and Mrs. Ashburn sat on one of the couches, Hermione occupied an armchair, Snape stood off to the side behind the Ashburns, and, of course, Minerva sat behind her desk. "Proceed with what, exactly?" I asked as I took the armchair across from Hermione.

"With your marriage, of course. Not to mention Miss Ashburn's schooling," the headmistress answered, surprised I had to ask.

"We are going through with it, then?" I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "What about the matter is up for discussion?"

It was Mr. Ashburn that answered me. "When the marriage is to take place is the biggest issue." He paused before continuing, "We're going to continue – with the wedding, I mean – because if we don't then Allyssa can't stay here, and she loved it here. She didn't talk about it much and I think that might show just _how much _she cared for this place."

"Mr. and Mrs. Ashburn want to postpone the wedding, give you two additional time to get to know one another; however, the opposite has also been proposed for much the same reason," Minerva informed me.

I was silent for a moment, thinking. "Does she even know we're engaged?" I asked rather suddenly.

"Yes," Mrs. Ashburn said softly, "I told her this morning."

"Then why isn't she here? Why isn't she here, helping make the decisions that will affect no one's life more than hers? Why do all of you get a say when she has none?"

"Because she won't talk to me!" Mrs. Ashburn exclaimed as she burst into tears. "I told her about the engagement; I explained the Marriage Law; I told her about you, but all she did was turn her back to me and tell me to go away. I sat there for an hour trying to get her to listen to me but I got no response," Mrs. Ashburn said through tears.

I didn't know what to say. Mrs. Ashburn was sitting there, crying, and I couldn't think of a damn thing to say. Luckily, Hermione could, "I'm sure she was just shocked. It's a lot to take in: losing your memory and finding out you're engaged – to a professor no less – all in one week, but she'll be fine."

"Well said Miss Granger." Minerva sat in silence for a moment before returning to the subject at hand, "So, Mr. Weasley, do you have a preference?"

"I don't – I just – Hermione, what do you think is best?" I stammered.

"A later wedding would give you two time to renew your friendship, get back to where you were before this happened, but it would also allow Allyssa to see you as her professor again. An earlier wedding would allow you to adjust to one another as husband and wife, but it would be awkward at first. I'm sorry, Charlie, but both plans have too many draw back, without knowing how Allyssa reacts to seeing you in person now that she knows the two of you are engaged, I don't see how I can pick one," Hermione said, regretfully.

I nodded. "I'll visit her after dinner and have the decision to you tomorrow morning at the latest, then." I started to get up and leave, but paused to asked, "What are your plans for Allyssa's studies?"

"We were planning on testing her to see how much knowledge she's retained. The possibility that she might have to sit out the rest of the school year had come up, why?" Minerva answered.

"When were you planning on testing her?" I asked, ignoring her question completely.

"Tomorrow afternoon, after Poppy releases her. Why do you ask, Mr. Weasley?" Minerva demanded.

I shrugged. "Curious. You'll let me know what the tests show?"

"If you wish," Minerva granted with a puzzled look on her wizened face.

And with that I made my way to the Great Hall for lunch, my thoughts already centered on my visit with Allyssa for that evening.

_"Do I know you?"_

**AN: Yay! Another chapter down, an unknown number to go. So, umm, if you haven't figured it out by now, I really don't have a concrete plan for this story – or a plan at all, for that matter. So, what I want to know is if Charlie and Allyssa should get married sooner or later, just like the characters were discussing in McGonagall's office. It would be best if you left your opinion in a review because I probably won't hear it if you scream it at your computer. ; ) Whether you want to cast a vote or not, though, please leave a review.**

**P.S. In this chapter I said the ages for the Marriage Law were 17-55, in a previous chapter I have it as 17-40, I will go back and change the ages in the other chapter . . . at some point.**


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